THE  MODERN  MAN 

TACING 
TUB  OLD  PROBLEMS 


'  ANDREW  W  ARCHIBALD 


7.xx.ZoJ 
LIBRARY  OF  THE  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 


PRINCETON,  N.  J. 


Presented  byTVo\  .  cJ.'T?\'Von  \ (S  Smi-Vln  "t)T), 


Division. 


Section. 


The  Modern  Man  Facing  the 
Old  Problems 


OTHER   WORKS 

By  Andrew  W.  Archibald,  D.D. 

The  Bible  Verified. 

255    Pages,     Price    75   cents.       The   Presbyterian 
Board  of  Publication. 

Four  Editions,  and  Translations  into  Spanish  and 

Japanese. 

Pres.  J.  G.  K.  McClure,  D.  D.,  McCormick   Theological 
Seminary : 

"  I  have  never  found  a  book  so  suitable  for  size  and  con- 
tents to  place  in  the  hands  of  the  ordinary  inquirer  who  de- 
sires to  know  the  preeminent  value  of  the  Bible  in  the  liter- 
atures of  the  world  as  '  The  Bible  Verified.'  " 

The  Trend  of  the  Ceftiuries, 

419  Pages,     ^i.oo   net,   postpaid.      The  Pilgrim 

Press. 

Prof.  George  P.  Fisher,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  Yale  University : 

"  It  shows  how  extensive  and  intelligent  has  been  your 
survey  of  the  past,  how  careful  and  broad  have  been  your 
researches,  and  in  what  a  scholarly  and  Catholic  spirit  you 
have  judged  of  historical  events  and  persons.  It  is  an  able 
and  suggestive  review  of  the  course  of  history." 

The  American  Journal  of  Theology,  Chicago  University  : 

"  The  matter  is  put  in  a  fresh  and  fascinating  way.  The 
great  epochs  of  history  are  so  skillfully  and  vividly  portrayed 
that  the  reader  becomes  an  interested  and  delighted  spec- 
tator of  the  great  and  inspiring  acts  of  God's  providence." 

The  Easter  Hope, 

132  Pages.     Price,  ^i.oo.     Two  Editions.     S.  D, 

Towne,  Boston. 

Ex-Pres.  Timothy  Dwight,  D.D„  LL.D.,  Yale  University : 

"  I  have  read  it  twice  with  great  interest.  ,  ,  ,  A 
very  able  and  helpful  volume." 

Biblical  Nature  Studies, 

220   Pages.     Price,   ^i.oo.     Postage    lo  cents. 

The  Pilgrim  Press. 

Dr.  Henry  Van  Dyke,  American  Minister  to  the  Netherlands : 

"  I  have  read  it  with  great  interest  and  pleasure.  .  .  . 
The  spirit  of  the  book,  which  is  full  of  the  open  air,  is  both 
refreshing  and  helpful." 

John  Burroughs,  Litt.  D.,  Naturalist  : 

"  It  is  decidedly  worth  while.     It   is  a  fine  blending  of 

Biblical  lore  and  nature  knowledge," 


The  Modern  Man  Facing 
The  Old  Problems 


By 
ANDREW  W.  ARCHIBALD,  D.D. 

Author  of  The  Bible  Verified;'  ''The  Trend 
of  the  Centuries ;'  etc. 


"Act  well  your  part,  there  all  the  honour  lies." 
— Pope''s  ^^  Essay  on  Man" 


JUL  ■  '5  1920 


New     York  Chicago  Toronto 

Fleming     H.     Revell     Company 
London  and  Edinburgh 


Copyright,  1916,  by 
FLEMING  H.  REVELL  COMPANY 


Kew  York:  15S  Fifth  Avenue 
Chicago:  17  North  Wabash  Ave. 
Toronto:  2s  Richmond  Street,  W. 
London:  21  Paternoster  Square 
Edinburgh:      100    Princes    Street 


To  the  meynory 

of  my  Father  and  Mother^ 

Robert  and  Betsy  Ha?mlton  Archibald 


Preface 

THE  author's  previous  volumes,  in  the  order 
of  their  publication,  have  been  "  The  Bible 
Verified,"  "  The  Trend  of  the  Centuries," 
"  The  Easter  Hope,"  and  "  Biblical  Nature  Studies." 
Their  themes  might  be  stated  as  follows  :  God  in  the 
Word,  God  in  the  world  of  history,  God  in  the  future 
world,  God  in  the  natural  world,  and  now  in  this  new 
work,  "  The  Modern  Man  Facing  the  Old  Problems," 
we  have  God  in  the  world  of  practical  living.  The 
logical  succession  of  topics  would  put  the  consider- 
ation of  the  hereafter  at  the  end,  and  with  such  a 
rearrangement  we  have  a  measurably  complete  line 
of  thought,  and  one  advancing  steadily  to  a  climax. 
But  perhaps  the  most  important  subject  is  the  last 
receiving  treatment,  namely,  that  of  the  following 
pages. 

In  this  series  of  discussions,  the  studied  aim  has 
been  to  unfold  every  thought  from  a  Biblical  and 
therefore  from  an  authoritative  basis.  The  Psalmist 
was  right  when  he  said  : 

**  Wherewithal  shall  a  young  man  cleanse  his  way? 
By  taking  heed  thereto  according  to  thy  Word^ 

For  this  reason  there  is  not  only  frequent  citation 
of  the  literary  and  the  historical  and  the  scientific 

7 


8  Preface 

and  the  philosophical,  but  particularly  there  is  a  con- 
stant appeal  to  Holy  Writ.  Conversely,  while  the 
positions  taken  are  fortified  preeminently  from  the 
Scriptures,  they  are  also  strongly  sustained  by  very 
copious  illustrations  from  literature  and  history  and 
science  and  philosophy.  A  special  use  might  be 
made  of  the  sixteen  chapters  in  furnishing  a  suc- 
cession of  studies  for  Men's  Classes,  so  rapidly  multi- 
plying in  the  Churches  and  in  the  Christian  Asso- 
ciations. 

An  indulgent  public  has  given  such  a  gracious  and 
appreciative  recognition  of  the  vi^riter's  preceding 
efforts,  that  he  is  emboldened  to  make  this  farther 
venture  into  the  field  of  literature. 

A.  W.  A. 

Newton  Center^  Boston* 


Contents 


I.  Time  and  Eternity     .... 

II.  The  Reign  of  Law  or  of  God,  Which  ? 

III.  The  Power  and  Persistence  of  Memory 

IV.  The    Will    as    a    Factor     in    Determining 

Destiny        ..... 

V.  Cornelian  Inquiries   as  to   the    Great   Es 

sential  ..... 

VI.  Some   Pertinent  Though  Not   Impertinent 

Questions     ..... 

VII.  How  to  Make  the  Most  of  Ourselves 

VIII.  Masters  of  the  Situation    . 

IX.  How  the  Forgotten  Past  May  Contribute 

TO  Our  Future  Success 

X.  The  Ministry  of  Angels 

XI.  The  Weaving  of  Life's  Web   and  the  En 

graving  of  Character  . 

XII.  The  Silent  Building  of  the  Temple     . 

XIII.  Limited  Though  Ample  Opportunities 

XIV.  A  Larger  Sphere  .... 

XV.  Commendatory  Letters  :      . 

Worth- While  Testimonials  of  Things  Achieved 

XVI.  The  Quest  of  the  Grail  and  of  the  Christ 


II 

22 

35 

48 

61 

n 

90 

103 

116 

129 

141 

157 

170 
182 

195 

208 


Time  and  Eternity 

THE  modern  man  has  to  face  the  same  prob- 
lems as  have  ever  engaged  the  attention  of 
humanity.  He  is  still  baffled  by  the  mys- 
tery of  life  with  its  outlook  on  eternity.  He  con- 
tinues to  ask  the  significance  of  the  brief  pres^ent 
and  of  the  unending  future.  He  exclaims  with  the 
Psalmist,  "  How  short  my  time  is."  He  hkewise 
wonders  what  is  to  be  his  destiny  in  that  Hereafter 
which  Holy  Writ  tries  to  measure  in  the  familiar, 
**  A  thousand  years  in  thy  sight  are  but  as  yesterday 
when  it  is  past,  and  as  a  watch  in  the  night." 

I.  We  will  endeavour,  first,  to  get  some  concep- 
tion of  our  ephemeral  existence  here.  We  recall 
what  a  poet  has  said  : 

<*  How  short  is  human  life  !  the  very  breath, 
Which  frames  my  words,  accelerates  my  death." 

The  brevity  of  our  earthly  career  is  variously  illus- 
trated in  Scripture,  and  always  in  a  way  to  impress 
the  mind. 

We  have  all  stood  at  the  harbour,  and  watched 
the  departure  of  ocean  craft.  There  is  something 
majestic  in  them  as  they  steam  away  or  sail  away 
from  the  dock,  and  carriages  and  automobiles   are 

II 


12     The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

stopped,  and  people  who  have  witnessed  the  sight 
scores  of  times  will  sit  and  look  with  a  dreamy  at- 
tention. There  is  a  trace  of  sadness  in  their  faces,  as 
if  they  were  reminded  of  the  ocean  of  Hfe,  upon 
which  so  many  set  sail  with  high  hopes  only  to  van- 
ish out  of  view  in  a  few  short  years,  landing  on  the 
far-away  shore  of  eternity.  In  olden  times  there 
was  a  man  of  God,  who  doubtless  had  often  gazed  at 
the  white  sails  on  the  blue  Mediterranean.  He  had 
seen  the  ships  bearing  out  to  sea,  he  had  seen  them 
growing  less  and  less  distinct  against  the  horizon, 
until  they  were  mere  specks,  and  finally  they  were 
entirely  lost  to  the  vision.  Turning  away  in  a  pen- 
sive mood,  he  said.  My  days  "  are  passed  away  as 
the  swift  ships,"  and  we  all  feel  the  force  of  the  pic- 
turesque characterization. 

To  vary  the  figure,  Isaiah  says,  "  Mine  age  is  re- 
moved, and  is  carried  away  from  me  as  a  shepherd's 
tent."  There  is  nothing  permanent  in  tent  life,  it  is 
a  camping  out  from  place  to  place.  Especially  must 
the  shepherd,  for  the  sake  of  pasturage,  frequently 
shift  his  location.  He  settles  down  in  some  valley, 
hoists  his  canvas  in  the  evening,  and  while  the 
smoke  may  curl  upward  in  the  morning  with  the 
busy  activities  of  breakfast  preparation,  at  noon  or 
by  late  afternoon  there  is  hardly  a  vestige  of  his 
having  been  on  the  spot.  He  has  struck  his  tent 
and  gone.  So  it  is  with  our  earthly  habitation,  with 
the  body  in  which  we  tabernacle  here.     We  live  our 


Time  and  Eternity  13 

little  life  in  one  brief  generation,  and  the  next  gen- 
eration finds  scarcely  a  trace  of  our  existence.  Our 
lives  have  been  removed  as  a  shepherd's  tent. 

Again  we  are  told  in  the  Chronicles  that  "  our 
days  on  the  earth  are  as  a  shadow,  and  there  is  no 
abiding."  That  makes  a  very  definite  impression  on 
the  writer's  mind.  Often  has  he  sat  on  some  slope 
of  the  Catskills,  and  followed  with  his  eye  the  flying 
shadows.  It  is  in  the  autumn  when  they  are  seen  to 
the  best  advantage  and  with  the  finest  effect.  The 
atmosphere  is  dreamy,  the  leaves  are  sufficiently 
tinged  with  red  and  gold  to  speak  of  decay.  The 
murmuring  of  the  brook  in  the  adjacent  meadow, 
and  the  occasional  lowing  of  the  cattle  can  be  heard. 
The  whistle  of  the  farmer's  boy  and  the  song  of  the 
bird  seem  to  be  in  a  minor  key.  There  is  plain- 
tiveness  in  every  sound.  You  find  yourself  sighing 
involuntarily  once  in  a  while,  and  you  cannot  help 
feeling  a  little  melancholy.  You  look  over  the  land- 
scape, and  there  are  the  shadows.  There  is  some- 
thing beautiful  and  yet  saddening  in  the  continuous 
procession  which  they  keep  up.  No  one  of  them 
takes  more  than  a  minute  or  two  to  traverse  the 
whole  stretch  of  country  within  the  range  of  vision. 
Verily,  our  days  are  like  the  fleeting  shadows :  they 
chase  one  another  very  rapidly,  and  there  is  "  no 
abiding." 

Still  farther,  Job  declares,  "  My  days  are  swifter 
than  a  post."     This  figure  is  taken  from  an  ancient 


14    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

institution,  which  is  thus  described  by  the  author 
of  the  *'  DecHne  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire  " : 
"  Houses  were  everywhere  erected  at  the  distance 
only  of  five  or  six  miles,  each  of  them  was  constantly 
provided  with  forty  horses,  and  by  the  help  of  these 
relays  it  was  easy  to  travel  a  hundred  miles  in  a  day 
along  the  Roman  roads."  Xerxes,  in  his  famous 
march  from  the  Orient  to  Greece,  by  such  a  postal 
arrangement  kept  in  close  communication  witli  the 
most  distant  parts  of  his  realm.  Herodotus  says 
that  there  was  no  more  speedy  way  of  travelling  by 
land  than  on  the  post-horses.  How  the  courier  must 
have  gone  flying  along !  Art  represents  him  spur- 
ring his  steed  to  a  full  run.  When  Gibbon's  '•  five 
or  six  miles  "  had  thus  been  journeyed,  the  messen- 
ger would  mount  a  fresh  animal,  and  gallop  away  to 
the  next  stopping  place,  where  there  would  be  an- 
other saddled  beast  awaiting  him,  and  with  such 
postal  conveniences  150  miles  a  day  could  be  made. 
Even  foot  couriers,  by  being  trained  from  child- 
hood, used  to  travel  100  to  200  miles  a  day  in 
Mexico,  as  we  learn  from  Prescott's  "  Conquest." 
This  historian  expressly  says,  "  Fresh  fish  was  fre- 
quently served  at  Montezuma's  table  in  twenty-four 
hours  from  the  time  it  had  been  taken  in  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico,  200  miles  from  the  capital."  This  feat  was 
accomplished  by  a  runner  on  foot,  and  not  by  one 
who  was  mounted,  as  the  ancient  postman  was.  We 
can  imagine  the  latter  literally  dashing  by  the  ob- 


Time  and  Eternity  15 

server,  who  would  watch  him  as  he  ascended  a  hill, 
who  would  lose  sight  of  him  as  he  descended  into  a 
valley,  who  would  see  him  appear  again  on  a  farther 
elevation  of  ground,  who  would  see  him  growing 
smaller  and  smaller  against  the  sky,  till  in  a  few  min- 
utes he  disappeared  altogether.  Swifter  than  a  post 
is  our  fleeting  life,  rising  and  falling  on  hill  and  in 
dale,  till  ere  long  it  vanishes  in  the  distance.  Swifter 
than  the  modern  post  even,  than  postal  telegraphy, 
are  our  days.  We  do  not  send  messages  by  the 
mounted  courier  now,  but  by  the  electric  flash. 
Quickly  as  that,  in  one  view  of  the  matter,  do  we 
run  our  earthly  course.  The  Master  Himself  once 
said,  "  As  the  hghtning  cometh  forth  from  the  east, 
and  is  seen  even  unto  the  west,  so  shall  be  the  com- 
ing of  the  Son  of  Man,"  in  a  moment.  Down  from 
heaven  through  intervening  space  with  the  velocity 
of  light,  which  shoots  through  the  air  186,000  miles 
a  second,  God  sends  the  despatch,  "  This  night  is 
thy  soul  required  of  thee,"  and  somewhere  before 
morning  there  is  an  instant  tragedy.  There  is  a 
blaze  of  electricity,  a  bUnding  flash  of  lightning,  fol- 
lowed by  lurid  darkness,  for  another  life  has  ended. 

It  is  likewise  Job  who  says,  ♦'  Oh,  remember  that 
my  life  is  wind."  Bring  forth  the  anemometer,  and 
let  us  measure  the  rapidity  with  which  the  wind 
moves.  What  is  the  velocity  of  that  gentle  zephyr 
whose  motion  can  with  difficulty  be  discerned? 
About  a   mile   an    hour.     Let   the  tornado   sweep 


l6    The  Modem  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

along,  and  what  does  the  anemometer  register? 
More  than  a  hundred  miles  an  hour.  How  long 
does  it  take  the  cyclone  to  do  its  awful  work  ?  There 
is  a  momentary  roar  like  the  deafening  noise  of  ten 
thousand  trains  of  cars,  there  is  a  bewildering  sense 
of  the  passing  of  a  blast  of  the  Almighty's  breath, 
and  all  is  over,  but  what  fearful  havoc  has  been 
wrought  by  that  brief  whirl  of  wind.  It  is  here  and 
gone  before  one  has  scarcely  time  to  think.  As 
rapid  sometimes  seems  the  whirl  of  time.  In  such 
different  ways  do  we  have  illustrated  in  Holy  Writ 
how  short  our  time  is. 

2.  Turning  to  the  other  side  of  our  subject,  we 
will  try  to  get  some  conception  of  the  endless  future, 
of  Him  who  "  inhabiteth  eternity,"  and  concerning 
whom  Whittier  says  : 

**  From  out  whose  hand 
The  centuries  fall  like  grains  of  sand.'* 

A  hasty  sketch  of  the  ages  of  geology  will  perhaps 
best  enable  us  to  understand  how  with  God  a  thou- 
sand years  "  are  but  as  yesterday  when  it  is  past,  and 
as  a  watch  in  the  night."  We  will  picture  to  our- 
selves the  cosmos  as  evolved  according  to  the  nebu- 
lar hypothesis,  for  though  this  should  be  supplanted 
by  some  other  theory  of  the  universe,  it  yet  will  ever 
furnish  us  with  an  impressive  illustration  of  how  ab- 
solutely unending  is  eternity. 

We  start  with  that  indefinite  "  In  the  beginning/' 


Time  and  Eternity  17 

and  we  see  this  earth,  as  Scripture  says,  "  waste  and 
void,"  a  vaporous  mass,  which  cooled  and  condensed 
into  a  Hquid  sphere.  This  fiery,  molten  ball  whirled 
round  and  round,  and  radiated  heat,  till  it  had  a 
solid  outside  crust.  Millions  of  years  were  required 
to  make  this  "  beginning  "  of  our  globe.  The  en- 
veloping gases  were  precipitated  into  the  waters  of 
which  they  were  the  constituents,  and  a  hot  ocean 
completely  covered  the  surface  of  the  primordial 
earth.  Slowly  this  deposited  its  sediment,  adding 
grain  to  grain,  until  there  was  a  formation  five  miles 
thick,  and  the  Cambrian  age  had  run  its  course 
through  thousands  of  years,  which,  however,  were 
only  as  a  watch  in  the  night  in  comparison  with 
eternity. 

There  followed  the  Silurian  age  with  a  deposit  of 
still  greater  depth,  and  we  see  the  Rockies  and  the 
Alleghanies  lifting  themselves  out  of  the  water,  while 
yet  the  greater  part  of  North  America  was  a  rolling 
sea.  This  condition  of  things  lasted  for  thousands 
of  years,  but  the  eternal  God  looked  upon  them  as 
so  many  days,  or  even  fractions  thereof.  The 
Devonian  age  succeeded,  and  more  land  rose  from 
the  vasty  deep  in  the  shape  of  numerous  islands, 
such  that,  said  the  geologist  Dawson,  "  the  conti- 
nental areas  of  the  northern  hemisphere  must  have 
much  resembled  the  present  insular  and  oceanip 
regions  of  the  South  Pacific."  Only  another  day  or 
watch  in  the  night  of  eternity  had  passed. 


i8    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

The  Carboniferous  age  came,  and  with  it  the 
elevation  of  more  land  in  great  swampy  flats. 
America's  inland  sea  became  more  and  more  con- 
tracted, and  a  boggy  soil  appeared  where  the 
prairies  now  are,  and  it  was  clothed  in  the  most  lux- 
uriant vegetation  under  tropical  conditions.  Then 
came  a  mighty  subsidence,  and  the  vast  swamps  were 
overflown,  and  the  forests  were  covered  with  detritus, 
which  gradually  rose  above  the  water  to  wave  with 
another  tropical  forest,  and  that  also  sank  and  was 
buried  in  mud.  Thus  were  the  coal  measures  formed 
through  thousands  of  years,  which  occupied  only  a 
part  of  a  night  for  Him  who  was,  and  is,  and  is 
to  be. 

The  Permian  age  continued  the  elevations  and  de- 
pressions through  other  millenniums,  for  everything 
was  billowy  and  unstable  yet.  We  pass  down  through 
the  Messozoic  ages,  and  see  the  Rockies  and  Andes 
submerged,  and  all  Britain  under  water  except  the 
highest  peaks,  while  chalk  a  thousand  feet  deep  was 
formed  by  the  almost  imperceptible  growth  of  micro- 
scopic shells.  Then  we  see  another  tremendous  up- 
heaval, producing  for  the  first  the  majestic  mountain 
ranges  of  the  Alps  and  of  the  Himalayas.  The  sub- 
sequent Tertiary  age  with  its  subdivisions  introduces 
us  to  a  succession  of  gigantic  changes  which  speak 
of  immeasurably  long  time.  We  see  South  and 
North  America  still  separated  by  a  sea,  and  no 
Panama  canal  was  needed.     We  see  northern  Africa, 


Time  and  Eternity  19 

southern  Europe,  and  western  and  southern  Asia 
still  constituting  an  ocean  bottom.  We  see  Green- 
land, now  clad  in  ice,  luxuriating  in  a  mild  climate 
and  a  rich  vegetation.  We  see  a  cold  wave  indeed 
extending  southward  over  the  earth,  till  our  present 
temperate  zones  were  sheeted  with  glaciers,  to  be 
succeeded  by  a  glacial  sea  which  flowed  more  than  a 
thousand  feet  deep  over  the  plains  of  Europe,  until 
there  was  another  elevation  producing  more  land 
than  exists  now.  We  see  man  appear,  to  experience 
perhaps  that  last  geological  subsidence  of  any  great 
extent,  whereby  the  earth  in  its  present  contour  of  > 
continents  and  oceans  was  formed,  and  the  promise 
was  that  the  world  should  not  be  drowned  again, 
should  not  be  subjected  to  another  deluge. 

The  modern  man  gets  a  more  adequate  conception 
of  eternity  than  any  in  the  past,  because  he  has  in 
geology  a  more  satisfactory  unit  of  measurement. 
How  long  were  the  geologic  ages  ?  Long  enough 
for  the  formation  of  sedimentary  rocks  to  the  depth 
of  at  least  fifteen  miles,  and  that,  too,  by  the  deposit- 
ing of  a  sand,  as  it  were,  at  a  time.  Sir  William 
Thompson  (though  later  authorities  make  more 
moderate  estimates)  calculated  seventy  to  a  hundred 
million  years  from  the  first  formation  of  the  solid 
crust  to  the  modern  period.  The  cooling  down  from 
the  first  vaporous  condition  is  supposed  to  have  oc- 
cupied an  immeasurably  longer  time,  and  we  can  say 
with  Longfellow : 


20    The  Modem  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

**  The  ages  come  and  go, 

The  centuries  pass  as  years." 

All  these  form  only  a  small  section  of  eternity.  Such 
infinite  duration  of  personal  existence  staggers  the 
intellect.  With  such  a  conception  of  this  as  we  are 
able  to  get  from  our  geological  comparison,  we  can 
see  the  deep  significance  of  the  Lord's  own  state- 
ment, that  it  would  be  no  profit  to  gain  the  whole 
world  and  lose  the  soul.     We  can  say  with  Wesley: 

**  And  deeply  on  my  thoughtful  heart 
Eternal  things  impress : 
Give  me  to  feel  their  solemn  weight.** 

Having  thus  set  over  against  each  other  time  that 
is  so  brief  and  eternity  which  is  without  beginning 
or  end,  in  closing  we  recall  a  scene  from  Milman's 
"  History  of  Latin  Christianity."  In  one  of  the 
early  Anglo-Saxon  conferences  to  consider  the  ques- 
tion of  accepting  Christianity,  a  thane  came  forward 
and  said,  "  To  what,  O  King,  shall  I  liken  the  life 
of  man  ?  When  you  are  feasting  with  your  thanes 
in  the  depth  of  winter,  and  the  hall  is  warm  with  the 
blazing  fire,  and  all  around  the  wind  is  raging  and 
the  snow  falling,  a  little  bird  flies  through  the  hall, 
enters  at  one  door  and  escapes  at  the  other.  For  a 
moment  while  within,  it  is  visible  to  the  eyes,  but  it 
came  out  of  the  darkness  of  the  storm,  and  glides 
again  into  the  same  darkness.  So  is  human  life :  we 
behold  it  for  an  instant,  but  what  has  gone  before,  or 


Time  and  Eternity  21 

what  is  to  follow,  we  are  utterly  ignorant.  If  the 
new  religion  can  teach  us  this  wonderful  secret,  let 
us  give  it  our  earnest  attention." 

The  advice  was  good,  and  those  early  ancestors  of 
ours  well  decided  to  accept  the  Christ,  who  "  only 
hath  immortality."  In  view  of  human  life  being  Hke 
a  bird  flitting  through  a  room  on  a  wintry  night,  we 
cannot  afford  to  leave  out  of  account  the  Christian 
religion,  which  alone  has  a  satisfactory  solution  of  the 
mystery  of  our  earthly  existence  flashing  momen- 
tarily across  the  eternity  wherein  it  is  comprehended. 
Contemplating  the  swiftly-passing  days  of  the  present 
and  the  countless  aeons  to  come,  and  we  recognize 
how  true  and  how  appealing  are  the  lines  of  the 
poet : 

"  We  live  in  deeds,  not  years,  in  thoughts,  not  breaths, 

>    In  feelings,  not  in  figures  on  a  dial. 

We  should  count  time  by  heart-throbs.     He  most  lives 
Who  thinks  most,  feels  the  noblest,  acts  the  best." 


II 

The  Reign  of  Law  or  of  God,  Which  ? 

IN  the  preceding  chapter  we  reached  the  conclu- 
sion that  the  Christian  religion  is  a  satisfactory 
explanation  of  life,  that  opens  up  into  an  ever- 
expanding  future.  So  widely  has  this  view  been 
accepted  that  we  have  what  is  known  as  Christendom 
comprising  so  large  a  portion  of  the  race.  It  has 
been  reserved  for  our  day  to  throw  doubt  on  the 
prevailing  beHef.  Christianity  itself  has  come  to  be 
questioned.  With  the  larger  knowledge  of  our  age, 
we  are  impressed  with  the  reign  of  law.  We  query 
if  this  is  not  inconsistent  with  the  sway  of  a  personal 
God.  We  do  not  quote  with  confidence  the  old 
Hebrew  sentiment: 

**  Who  is  like  unto  the  Lord  our  God, 
That  hath  his  seat  on  high, 
That  humbleth  himself  to  behold 
The  things  that  are  in  heaven  and  in  the  earth  ?  " 

We  are  inclined  to  think  that  there  is  no  great  Being, 
who  is  concerned  about  what  takes  place  either  here 
below  or  in  the  sky  above.  At  first  certainly,  modern 
scepticism  seems  to  be  justified  by  the  revelations  of 
science.  But  perhaps  a  deeper  view  will  make  for 
the  old  faith,  that  the  Omnipotent  does  not  relax  His 

22 


Reign  of  Law  or  of  God  23 

control  anywhere,  and  that  He  governs  everywhere, 
though  very  hkely  by  secondary  processes.  We 
shall  attempt  to  see  how  law  is  only  the  method  of 
His  working. 

I.  First,  God  fills  the  earth.  He  is,  to  use  a  phil- 
osophic word,  immanent  everywhere,  and  there  is 
nothing  in  the  evolutionary  theory  ruling  Him  out 
of  the  universe.  The  creation  is  progressive,  it  is  a 
development,  the  accomplishing  of  the  divine  pur- 
pose by  long  and  intricate  and  subtle  processes, 
rather  than  by  quick  and  spectacular  acts.  Let  us 
suppose  that  the  nebular  hypothesis  is  correct.  In 
some  mysterious  beginning  a  fiery  mist  was  revolv- 
ing, though  even  then  its  laws  of  motion  must  have 
come  from  a  personal  Intelligence.  Under  the  ac- 
tion of  centripetal  and  centrifugal  forces  the  original 
mass  became  separate  globes  which  cooled  and  solid- 
ified, and  one  of  these  would  be  our  terrestrial  ball, 
which  in  the  course  of  geologic  ages  became  habit- 
able. 

How  marvellous  that  the  green  earth  could  have 
come  from  the  primordial  material  first  noted,  and 
what  wisdom  and  power  must  have  been  in  the 
Being  who  could  cause  such  a  development  of  a 
beautiful  cosmos  from  the  previous  chaos !  We 
may  smile  at  Herbert  Spencer's  definition  of  evolu- 
tion, "  a  change  from  an  indefinite,  incoherent  homo- 
geneity to  a  definite,  coherent  heterogeneity  through 
continuous  differentiations  and  integrations,"  and  yet 


24    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

the  evolutionary  in  nature  is  widely  accepted,  and 
cannot  indeed  be  disputed  along  many  lines.  If 
man  himself  as  to  his  physical  structure  once  existed 
in  a  lower  animal  organism,  our  faith  need  not  be 
disturbed,  since  it  is  only  a  question  of  a  quicker  or 
slower  formation  of  man,  whose  "  ascent "  indeed 
Drummond  traced  with  an  increasing  reverence  as  he 
unfolded  the  story  in  his  book  on  this  theme.  While 
other  biologists  have  seen  mainly  if  not  exclusively 
the  law  of  the  struggle  for  life,  resulting  in  the  sur- 
vival of  the  fittest,  that  is,  of  the  strongest,  he  has 
exalted  that  coordinate  working  principle  of  the 
natural  world,  namely,  the  struggle  for  the  hfe  of 
others  ;  so  that  animals,  for  instance,  instinctively 
protect  their  young  even  at  the  risk  of  their  own 
life. 

Had  it  not  been  for  this  altruistic  feeling  in  the 
very  brutes,  whole  species  must  have  become  ex- 
tinct, and  death  in  time  would  have  reigned  supreme, 
for  without  tender  care  life  in  its  infancy  must  perish. 
Not  so  strangely,  therefore,  does  this  distinguished 
writer  claim  that  evolution  is  "  a  love  story,"  and  he 
could  still  maintain  that  "  the  greatest  thing  in  the 
world,"  material  as  well  as  religious,  "  is  love." 

Not  without  suggestiveness  is  his  illustration  of 
how  there  may  have  been  the  dawn  of  mind,  when 
the  developing  body  reached  a  certain  degree  of 
fineness.  He  said  that  some  portions  of  the  Arctic 
regions  know  nothing  of  liquids.     The  thermometer 


Reign  of  Law  or  of  God  25 

may  range  from  31  degrees  below  zero  to  31  above, 
and  there  are  only  solids  in  matter :  there  is  ice  and 
there  are  glaciers.  When  the  mercury  marks  31 
above,  let  there  be  a  rise  of  only  two  degrees  more, 
and  behold  the  transformation.  "  The  glaciers  under 
the  new  conditions,"  to  quote  from  my  informant, 
*'  retreat  into  the  mountains,  the  vesture  of  ice  drops 
into  the  sea,  a  garment  of  greenness  clothes  the  land. 
So,"  he  continues, "  in  the  animal  world,  a  very  small 
rise  beyond  the  animal  maximum  may  open  the  door 
for  a  revolution."  That  is,  at  a  certain  stage  of  the 
evolutionary  there  may  be  an  inflow  of  human  in- 
telligence, the  mortal  becoming  immortal.  There 
is  a  place  for  God  even  in  such  a  scheme,  and  per- 
haps a  God  more  majestic  and  more  glorious  than 
enters  into  the  ordinary  conception  of  his  way  of 
working.  Victor  Hugo  once  said,  "  I  am  the  tad- 
pole of  an  archangel,"  and  substantially  such  a  glori- 
fication is  yet  to  be  ours  when  the  natural  unfolds 
into  the  spiritual,  the  earthly  into  the  heavenly.  If 
we  feel  that  the  divine  inworking  is  needed  to  carry 
us  up  to  this  higher  stage  of  development,  we  need 
not  be  so  very  incredulous  about  our  present  eleva- 
tion having  been  primarily  from  much  lower  condi- 
tions under  the  moulding  hand  of  the  mighty  God. 

Whatever  may  be  the  truth  as  to  race  develop- 
ment, every  individual  is  an  evolution.  Each  child 
that  is  born  starts  in  a  single  cell  that  is  microscopic 
in  size,  and  the  embryonic  changes,  step  by  step, 


26    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

have  been  noted  by  the  biologist,  and  the  marvellous 
transformations  are  such  as  to  necessitate  the  bring- 
ing in  of  the  divine  agency.  The  wondrous  evolu- 
tion of  what  the  Psalmist  calls  our  *♦  substance  "  into 
human  shape  and  semblance,  so  far  from  ruling  God 
out,  makes  Him  essential  to  explain  the  mysterious 
development,  and  the  devout  exclamation  of  the  in- 
spired writer  is  ours  also : 

*'  My  frame  was  not  hidden  from  thee, 
When  I  was  made  in  secret, 
And  curiously  wrought  in  the  lowest  parts  of  the 

earth. 
Thine  eyes  did  see  mine  unperfect  substance. 
And  in  thy  book  were  all  my  members  written, 
Which  day  by  day  were  fashioned. 
When  as  yet  there  was  none  of  them." 

As  there  was  an  individual  development,  so  a  race 
evolution  may  be  a  fact.  There  is  considerable  evi- 
dence for  this  in  the  revelations  of  the  very  rocks. 
Primeval  man  is  shown  to  have  had  implements  of 
stone,  and  there  succeeded  a  bronze  age,  and  later 
still  the  use  of  iron  was  learned.  Still,  Professor 
Sayce  of  Oxford  says  :  "  The  monumental  history  of 
Egypt  gives  no  countenance  to  the  fashionable 
theories  of  to-day  which  derive  civilized  man,  by  a 
slow  process  of  evolution,  out  of  a  brute-like  an- 
cestor. On  the  contrary,  its  testimony  points  in  an 
opposite  direction :  the  history  of  Egypt,  so  far  as 
excavation  has  made  it  known  to  us,  is  a  history, 


Reign  of  Law  or  of  God  27 

not  of  evolution  and  progress,  but  of  retrogression 
and  decay."  But  if  the  opposite  conclusion  be 
finally  established  to  the  satisfaction  of  all,  we  need 
not  be  disturbed  in  our  faith,  since  God  is  needed  in 
a  long  and  laborious  unfolding  of  humanity.  The 
more  minute  and  involved  and  prolonged  the  proc- 
ess, the  more  acute  the  intelligence  that  directs  the 
movements  of  a  steady  progress. 

It  is  the  Omnipotent  and  Omniscient  who  makes 
the  single  drop  of  water  to  teem  with  Hfe,  and  the 
solitary  atom  to  be  a  thing  of  mighty  potentialities. 
None  but  He  could  create  the  Httle  ants,  which  with 
waving  antennae  meet  and  hold  evident  communica- 
tions with  one  another.  He  teaches  the  butterfly,  as 
my  scientific  authority  says,  to  place  **  the  eggs  of 
its  young  on  the  very  leaf  which  the  coming  cater- 
pillar likes  the  most,  and  on  the  under  side  of  the 
leaf  where  they  will  be  least  exposed." 

In  plant  life  there  is  a  similar  indication  of  divine 
design.  When  Herodotus  more  than  two  millenniums 
ago  said  that  at  a  certain  season  of  the  year  the  priests 
went  to  the  desert  for  branches  of  wild  palm,  and 
bringing  them  home  waved  them  over  the  garden 
palms  as  a  prerequisite  to  a  crop  of  dates,  they  igno- 
rantly  were  availing  themselves  of  a  natural  law  that 
is  essential  to  fruitfulness,  and  how  wondrously  God 
does  here  work.  The  fertilizing  pollen  may  grow  on 
one  plant,  and  the  stigma  to  receive  it  on  another, 
but  God  has  a  way  of  getting  them  together  without 


28    The  Modem  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

the  help  of  any  human  priesthood.  He  has  the  wind 
to  connect  the  two,  or  the  bee  flying  hither  and 
thither  for  a  different  purpose  brings  about  the  con- 
nection. The  flower  opens  its  heart  of  sweetness  to 
the  insect,  and  the  latter  bears  away  to  another  flower 
that  which  is  needful  to  its  blooming.  Insects  that 
are  fond  of  darkness  are  provided  with  flowers  which 
are  white,  or  which  reveal  their  location  by  exquisite 
perfumes. 

To  such  small  details  does  God  descend.  He  gives 
delicate  hues  that  are  beyond  the  skill  of  human 
touch.     As  Shakespeare  says  : 

*'  To  paint  the  lily, 
To  throw  a  perfume  on  the  violet, 
To  smooth  the  ice,  or  add  another  hue 
Unto  the  rainbow,  or  with  taper-light 
To  seek  the  beauteous  eye  of  heaven  to  garnish, 
Is  wasteful  and  ridiculous  excess." 

No  one  can  rival  God  in  those  minute  perfections 
revealed  everywhere  in  nature.  He  is  Lord  of  heaven 
and  earth,  and  the  deeper  the  insight  we  get  into 
the  material  world,  the  more  microscopic  our  vision, 
the  more  profound  is  our  conviction  of  a  divine  hand 
that  weighs  the  "  small  dust  of  the  balance,"  that 
arrays  the  lily,  and  that  models  our  very  substance. 
2.  Turning  now  in  the  second  place  from  the 
earth  to  the  heaven,  the  first  effect  of  a  larger  knowl- 
edge here  might  be  to  cause  a  personal  God  to  recede, 
but  on  maturer  thought  He  is  seen  to  be  all  the  more 


Reign  of  Law  or  of  God  29 

glorious  because  of  the  revelations  which  the  telescope 
has  to  make.  The  wavering  faith,  which  Drummond 
sought  to  reestablish  by  his  book  on  evolution,  Chal- 
mers endeavoured  to  confirm,  when  astronomy  be- 
came a  matter  of  common  information,  by  preaching 
his  famous  "  Astronomical  Discourses,"  which  have 
been  preserved  in  a  very  readable  volume.  There 
was  the  same  ferment  of  belief  then  as  at  present,  the 
cosmic  problem  being  no  less  serious  than  the  bio- 
logical. There  was  a  tendency  to  unbelief  on  the 
ground  that  the  Governor  of  so  vast  a  universe  could 
not  be  concerned  for  this  paltry  globe  of  ours,  and 
for  its  comparatively  insignificant  inhabitants.  If  the 
splendid  argument  of  the  celebrated  Scotchman  were 
reproduced,  we  would  be  ready  to  entertain  his  view 
of  God,  of  whom  he  said,  "  Magnitude  does  not  over- 
power Him,  minuteness  cannot  escape  Him."  He  is 
concerned  with  "  the  things  that  are  in  heaven  and 
in  the  earth."  Though  seated  **  on  high,"  He  conde- 
scends to  what  is  of  low  estate. 

And  why  should  this  be  regarded  as  incredible? 
When  Newton  discovered  the  law  of  gravitation,  God 
at  first  might  seem  to  have  been  eliminated,  but  we 
have  come  to  see  in  gravity  a  grander  method  of  the 
divine  working,  and  the  great  discoverer  himself  was 
a  devout  believer,  as  many  an  evolutionist  is  to-day. 
To  be  sure,  there  may  be  something  bewildering  in 
the  fact  that  the  telescope  has  brought  within  the 
range  of  vision  more  than  two  hundred  million  suns 


30    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

alone,  while  each  of  these  is  doubtless  the  center  of  a 
system  Hke  our  own  solar  group,  with  its  planets  and 
moons  and  a  central  orb.  We  feel  the  power  of 
natural  laws,  their  clock-like  regularity  and  mechan- 
ical force,  when  we  can  predict  to  a  minute  eclipses 
and  transits,  and  yet  there  ever  recurs  the  question, 
Who  made  the  great  clock,  who  constructed  the  vast 
machine  ?  In  this  way  we  are  ultimately  led  back  to 
an  intelligent  Creator. 

But  granting  His  existence,  it  does  seem  amazing 
that  He  should  have  condescended  to  save  a  little 
world  like  ours,  when  it  could  be  dropped  out  of  the 
immense  universe  and  be  no  more  missed  than  a 
solitary  leaf  that  falls  in  the  foliage  of  a  forest  stretch- 
ing away  for  miles.  Perhaps,  however,  the  miracle 
of  grace  may  not  be  so  stupendous  or  rather  so  soli- 
tary as  it  appears  to  be.  Other  planets  may  have 
been  redeemed  as  well  as  ours,  two  at  least.  Mars  and 
Venus,  of  those  in  our  small  system  being  habitable 
on  the  highest  astronomical  authority,  while  in  the 
endless  stretches  of  boundless  space  may  be  numer- 
ous worlds  that  share  in  a  redemption  resembling 
that  of  earth. 

Besides,  to  use  for  substance  an  illustration  of 
Chalmers,  the  whole  period  of  human  history  in  an 
eternity  without  beginning  or  end  is  but  a  point  of 
time,  and  so  after  all  God's  interest  in  humanity  may 
be  only  like  that  of  an  earthly  monarch,  who  has 
reigned  as  long  as  Victoria,  for  instance,  did, — like 


Reign  of  Law  or  of  God  31 

such  a  one  turning  aside  for  a  minute  to  show  a  kind- 
ness to  a  suffering  waif  in  the  street.  The  royal  at- 
tention is  not  bestowed  beyond  measure  on  the  single 
child,  not  to  the  neglect  of  the  interests  of  the  king- 
dom at  large.  In  this  view  of  the  matter,  dispropor- 
tionate attention  may  not  have  been  paid  to  our 
comparatively  insignificant  globe.  Moreover,  we  are 
to  bear  in  mind  that  the  Infinite  is  not  limited  as  we 
finite  creatures  are  in  the  range  of  attentions  and 
affections  which  can  be  bestowed.  We  cannot  take 
in  too  many  things  and  persons  without  neglect 
somewhere,  but  the  •'  high  and  lofty  one  that  inhab- 
iteth  eternity  "  is  not  subject  to  any  such  limitations. 
And  yet  we  are  not  to  belittle  the  great  act  of  re- 
demption. There  is  no  lack  of,  there  is  rather  mani- 
festation of,  divinity  in  condescension.  When  a  man 
of  fame  notices  a  helpless  child,  he  rises  in  our  esti- 
mation. The  great  orator  Fronto,  in  the  time  of 
Marcus  Aurehus,  never  commended  himself  more  to 
posterity  than  when  he  asked  his  Majesty  the  Em- 
peror to  be  remembered  to  his  little  grandchildren, 
and,  says  the  historian, "  to  kiss  for  him  their  fat  little 
feet  and  dainty  hands."  That  showed  that  he  had 
heart,  and  we  commend  him  for  his  afifectionate  in- 
terest in  those  who  might  be  supposed  to  be  beneath 
the  attention  of  a  person  of  imperial  eloquence.  The 
divineness  of  the  God  of  heaven  is  indicated  in  no 
way  so  much  as  by  His  stooping  to  the  sons  of  earth 
and  bestowing  upon  the  prodigals  even  His  redemp- 


32    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

live  kiss.  Horace  Bushneil,  playing  with  his  chiU 
dren,  is  exalted  in  our  estimation.  Wilberforce  is 
all  the  greater  because  he  consecrated  his  magnificent 
endowments,  intellectual  and  spiritual,  to  the  securing 
of  the  liberty  of  poor  slaves.  Lincoln  towers  up  all 
the  more  sublimely  as  President,  because  his  heart 
was  touched  by  some  mother  pleading  for  the  life  of 
her  soldier  boy,  who  in  a  moment  of  weakness  and 
homesickness  may  have  deserted  from  the  army. 

Condescension,  so  far  from  disproving,  establishes 
divinity.  When  a  single  member  of  a  large  family 
becomes  seriously  sick,  to  borrow  another  illustra- 
tion, all  attention  and  tenderness  are  turned  towards 
him,  and  the  whole  neighbourhood  becomes  con- 
cerned for  his  case.  If  anything  glorifies  human 
nature,  it  is  such  a  fact  as  that,  and  so  of  the  divine 
nature.  When,  therefore,  one  little  world  became 
sick  unto  death  with  sin,  there  is  nothing  incredible 
in  the  Scriptural  representation  of  all  heaven  becom- 
ing concerned,  angels,  and  most  of  all  God. 

The  analogy  of  a  nation's  interest  in  its  humblest 
citizen  conveys  the  same  lesson.  If  he  is  unlawfully 
arrested  by  some  foreign  power,  the  government  of 
the  United  States  would  secure  him  his  rights,  if  an 
army  had  to  be  enlisted,  and  the  whole  power  of  the 
country  would  be  pledged  to  make  his  American 
citizenship  good.  A  nation  which  will  thus  interfere 
in  behalf  of  the  most  obscure  is  for  that  very  reason 
considered  great,  and  its  flag  is  respected  and  cheered 


Reign  of  Law  or  of  God  33 

on  every  sea  round  this  terrestrial  ball.  The  gov- 
ernment of  high  heaven  has  commended  itself  to  our 
admiration  and  enthusiastic  loyalty  by  a  similar  in- 
terference in  behalf  of  a  humble  world  over  which 
Satan  presumed  to  claim  dominion. 

If  the  smallest  island  of  the  United  States  were 
seized  by  a  hostile  power,  the  tocsin  of  war  would  be 
sounded,  the  Congress  would  vote  ample  supplies  for 
the  necessary  naval  force  to  maintain  national 
honour,  patriotism  would  everywhere  be  stirred,  and 
all  the  resources  of  the  country  would  be  enlisted 
for  the  sake  of  expelling  the  invader  of  the  most  in- 
significant part  of  our  domain.  When  this  globe  of 
ours,  floating  on  the  ocean  of  immensity,  was  wrong- 
fully claimed  by  his  Satanic  majesty,  the  rousing  of 
high  heaven  and  the  moving  of  all  the  armies  thereof 
and  the  pledging  by  God  of  all  His  resources  even  to 
the  giving  of  His  Son  for  the  recovery  of  the  merest 
islet  in  His  vast  kingdom  of  the  universe, — all  this  is 
godlike,  and  is  what  we  should  expect  and  not  doubt. 

The  astronomical  as  well  as  the  biological  argu- 
ment adds  to  the  glory  of  God.  Whether  with  the 
microscope  we  study  the  earthy,  or  with  the  tele- 
scope survey  the  heavenly,  God  on  reflection  is  seen 
to  be  more  and  more  glorious  in  proportion  to  our 
enlarging  knowledge,  and  we  rejoice  to  feel  that 
though  the  celestial  sovereign  is  seated  on  high,  He 
notices  the  very  sparrows  that  fall  to  the  ground,  He 
numbers  the  hairs  of  our  heads,  He  takes  up  His 


34    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

abode  in  humble  and  contrite  hearts,  and  makes  all 
things  work  together  in  their  highest  interest. 

*'  I  sing  the  almighty  power  of  God, 
That  made  the  mountains  rise, 
That  spread  the  flowing  seas  abroad, 
And  built  the  lofty  skies. 


"  I  sing  the  goodness  of  the  Lord, 
That  filled  the  earth  with  food  : 
He  formed  the  creatures  with  His  word, 
And  then  pronounced  them  good." 


Ill 

The  Power  and  Persistence  of  Memory 

THERE  is  mystery  not  only  in  the  world 
wherein  we  are  placed,  and  in  our  relation 
thereto,  but  also  in  our  own  strange  per- 
sonality. Modern  philosophy  has  much  to  say  of 
the  subliminal.  Our  psychology  never  wearies  of 
considering  the  subconscious  self.  It  is  the  old  won- 
der of  the  power  and  persistence  of  memory,  to 
which  the  next  few  pages  are  to  be  devoted.  We 
have  here  a  most  interesting  faculty  of  the  mind. 
We  see  it  exhibited  in  a  memorable  experience  of 
Nebuchadnezzar,  when  Daniel  gives  these  various 
items  regarding  the  king :  "  The  thing  is  gone  from 
me.  .  .  .  But  there  is  a  God  in  heaven  that  re- 
vealeth  secrets.  .  .  .  That  thou  mayest  know 
the  thoughts  of  thy  heart."  The  monarch  had  fallen 
asleep,  thinking  of  his  widely  extended  kingdom, 
wondering  about  its  probable  future,  "what  should 
come  to  pass  hereafter."  He  dreamed  about  it,  and 
it  was  a  troubled  dream,  which  he  could  not  recall 
on  awaking. 

Most  of  us  have  had  a  similar  experience.     We 
have  just  an  inkling  of  something  which  occupied 

35 


36    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

our  minds  during  our  slumbers,  but  as  to  what 
exactly  it  was  we  are  left  in  aggravating  ignorance. 
By  mental  efforts  we  try  to  grasp  it,  but  it  eludes  us, 
and  keeps  vanishing  from  our  almost  successful  en- 
deavours. We  sometimes  have  a  like  difficulty  in 
recalling  a  thought  of  our  waking  hours.  A  name, 
which  we  know  just  as  well  as  our  own,  escapes  us, 
and  we  attempt  again  and  again  to  seize  it,  but  with- 
out avail.  We  have  not  really  forgotten  it,  for  if  a 
friend  repeats  several  names,  and  finally  hits  upon  the 
fugitive,  we  recognize  it  at  once.  That  is  it,  we  say, 
how  singular  that  we  could  not  speak  it  for  the  mo- 
ment. 

So  that  we  can  understand  the  irritability  of  the 
oriental  king,  who  insisted  that  the  professed  inter- 
preters of  dreams  should  reveal  the  escaped  dream 
itself,  as  they  should  have  been  able  to  do,  if  they 
actually  possessed  supernatural  knowledge.  It  was 
a  very  practical  test,  such  as  should  be  applied  now 
to  so-called  spiritual  manifestations.  But  modern 
mediums  are  as  careful  to  maintain  their  reputation 
as  the  ancient  magicians  were.  If  they  can  only 
have  a  screen  up,  and  an  aperture  cut  into  it,  they 
are  just  in  their  element,  and  will  caper  around  in 
great  shape.  They  will  make  faces  at  you  with  their 
half-hidden  smirks,  they  will  shake  the  hand  at  you, 
and  they  will  give  you  a  message  straight  from  the 
other  world.  But  make  a  movement  to  go  behind 
the  curtain,  and  they  are  mightily  indignant,  and 


The  Power  and  Persistence  of  Memory    37 

they  gather  up  their  celestial  robes,  and  depart  in 
high  dudgeon.  They  do  not  like  too  close  inspec- 
tion. It  is  because  of  the  fraudulent  nature  of  their 
claims  that  they  always  want  to  select  their  own 
ground,  to  impose  their  conditions. 

Nebuchadnezzar  did  not  propose  to  have  any  such 
foolishness.  He  meant  business,  and  the  astrologers 
were  required  to  tell  the  dream  itself,  and  not  simply 
to  give  some  general,  enigmatic,  and  perfectly  safe 
interpretation  thereof.  They  declared  that  the  royal 
demand  was  unreasonable  and  preposterous.  But 
they  would  have  had  to  pay  the  penalty  of  their  false 
pretensions,  had  not  Daniel  come  to  the  rescue.  He 
and  his  rehgious  companions  prayed  that  the  dream 
might  be  miraculously  imparted  to  him,  and  it  was. 
The  thing  had  gone  from  the  king,  but  God  revealed 
the  secret,  and  Nebuchadnezzar  once  more  knew  the 
thoughts  of  his  heart. 

Every  one  now  in  his  more  sober  moments  is  apt 
to  query  what  is  to  come  to  pass  hereafter,  what  after 
the  present  is  to  be  his  destiny.  Do  the  deeds  of  this 
life  have  any  relation  to  eternity?  A  momentous 
inquiry  is  here  started.  Will  all  the  past  come  up  in 
judgment  ?  Much  of  it  has  nearly  if  not  quite  faded 
from  the  mental  vision,  but  glimpses  of  it  recur  now' 
and  then  to  the  mind,  as  if  to  suggest  that  all  lies 
hidden  somewhere,  and  that  there  is  needed  only  the 
proper  exciting  cause  to  bring  it  all  clearly  to  light. 
Thackeray  in  his  "  Henry  Esmond  "  says, "  We  forget 


38    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

nothing.  The  memory  sleeps,  but  wakens  again.  I 
often  think  how  it  shall  be  when,  after  the  last  sleep 
of  death,  the  reveille  shall  arouse  us  forever,  and  the 
past  in  one  flash  of  self-consciousness  rush  back,  Hke 
the  soul  revivified."  Thus  even  the  romancer  felt  the 
force  of  this  truth  which  is  stranger  than  fiction,  that 
nothing  is  forgotten. 

To  be  sure,  Prof.  WilHam  James,  who  for  so  many 
years  gave  distinction  to  the  chair  of  philosophy  in 
Harvard,  demurred  to  the  sweeping  claim,  caUing  it 
an  "  extravagant  opinion  that  nothing  we  experience 
can  be  absolutely  forgotten."  Even  he,  however, 
made  this  significant  admission  :  "  The  sphere  of  pos- 
sible recollection  may  be  wider  than  we  think,  and 
in  certain  matters  oblivion  is  no  proof  against  possible 
recall  under  other  conditions."  Certainly,  therefore, 
very  much  more  may  be  recalled  than  will  be  for  our 
comfort,  and  every  thing  may  be  subject  to  recall  at 
the  quickening  of  the  Omniscient.  The  scientist 
himself.  Prof.  Morton  Prince  of  Boston,  in  a  lecture 
to  the  Technology  Biological  Society  maintained  that 
every  thought  is  retained  by  the  mind,  and  that 
thoughts  can  be  reproduced  in  a  hypnotic  state, 
showing  that  they  are  still  existent  though  ordinarily 
lying  dormant.  "  All  emotions,"  he  declared,  "  gen- 
erate a  galvanic  current,  which  can  be  registered  by 
a  galvanometer."  It  is  like  an  Edison  record  taking 
and  holding  with  unerring  fidelity  whatever  is  uttered 
for  its  retention.     You  cannot  eliminate  part  of  what 


The  Power  and  Persistence  of  Memory    39 

has  been  said,  all  goes  down.     As  Pilate  would  say, 
What  is  written  is  written. 

I.  Our  first  proposition,  then,  in  considering  the 
power  of  memory  is,  that  nothing  seemingly  is  ab- 
solutely forgotten.  It  may  appear  to  be,  but  it  really 
is  not.  We  may  say  with  the  king,  "  The  thing  is 
gone  from  me,"  but  after  all  we  are  vaguely  conscious 
of  its  existence  somewhere,  and  we  feel  that  it  may 
yet  be  recovered.  We  realize  this  very  sensibly  of 
some  things,  and  a  natural  inference  is  that  all 
thoughts  are  imperishable. 

A  marvellous  faculty  is  memory,  as  is  evidenced  by 
the  reading  of  metaphysicians,  by  passing  in  review 
established  psychological  facts.  We  stand  in  awe 
before  such  prodigies  as  the  learned  ScaHger  of  the 
sixteenth  century,  who  memorized  Homer  in  three 
weeks,  and  all  the  Greek  poets  in  three  months.  We 
do  not  hesitate  to  say  "  the  rare  Ben  Jonson  "  in- 
deed, when  he  informs  us  that  he  could  repeat  all  that 
he  had  ever  written,  and  entire  volumes  of  what  he  had 
read.  We  are  astounded  by  what  is  recorded  in  our 
mental  philosophies  of  the  young  Corsican,  who  after 
hearing  words  in  Greek  and  Latin  to  an  almost  inter- 
minable extent,  could  reproduce  them  from  beginning 
to  end  without  the  slightest  error,  and  also  backwards 
with  equal  readiness,  as  well  as  alternately,  and  in 
every  other  order,  who  did  this  on  actual  trial  before 
a  gathered  company,  and  who  claimed  that  he  could 
thus  recite  to  the  number  of  thirty-six  thousand  words. 


40    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

There  is  the  familiar  example  of  Seneca  in  the  first 
century,  who,  bemoaning  the  loss  of  memory  in  his 
declining  years,  fondly  and  proudly  recalled  his  youth, 
when,  he  said,  he  could  repeat  two  thousand  names 
in  the  order  in  which  he  had  heard  them  pronounced. 
TertuUian,  the  early  Church  Father,  could  recite  the 
Old  Testament  Scriptures,  it  is  asserted,  from  Genesis 
to  Malachi.     Cicero  is  our  authority  for  the  state- 
ment that  Themistocles  could  address  by  their  names 
the    twenty   thousand    free   inhabitants   of  Athens. 
Pliny  avers  that  Cyrus  knew  the  names  of  all  the 
soldiers  in  his  army.     Though  at  present  we  depend 
so  much  upon  the  arts  of  printing  and  stenography, 
upon  our  books  of  reference  and  other  helps,  yet  once 
in  a  while  there  is  a  case  of  a  phenomenally  retentive 
memory  as  to  persons  and  events  and  dates  and  fig- 
ures.    A  recent  example  is  Blind  Tom,  who  could 
play  on  the  spot  the  most  difficult  music  he  had 
heard.     Lord   Bacon   could   rehearse  the  whole  of 
Tacitus,  and  Gladstone  had  only  to  be  given  the  first 
line  of  a  page  of  Homer,  and  the  following  lines 
would    be    recalled    with    the    greatest    exactness. 
Macaulay,  the  historian,  could  reproduce  the  whole 
of  Milton's   "Paradise   Lost,"  and,  he   himself  de- 
clared, all  of  Bunyan's  "  Pilgrim's  Progress." 

But  the  wonder  of  wonders  is,  that  probably  all 
retain  every  impression  ever  made  upon  the  mind. 
The  thing  goes  from  us,  we  say,  but  it  is  not  really 
forgotten,  it  may  be  and  often  is  recovered  from  the 


The  Power  and  Persistence  of  Memory    41 

subconscious  self  after  the  lapse  of  years.  We  have 
merely  for  the  time  being  lost  the  consciousness  of 
what  after  all  remains.  We  hold  in  mind,  only  hid- 
denly,  more  than  the  greatest  prodigy,  who  has  been 
instanced,  was  ever  able  to  reproduce.  We  only  lack 
his  power  of  immediate  reproduction. 

Memory  was  well  termed  by  Cicero  a  storehouse. 
It  has  many  chambers,  in  which  we  frequently  have 
to  rummage  around  for  a  considerable  time  before 
we  find  what  we  want,  and  then  perhaps  we  miss  it 
because  of  its  lying  in  some  overlooked  corner.  A 
storehouse  is  a  thesaurus,  to  use  the  Latin  word, 
which  has  been  Anglicized,  and  which  Virgil  em- 
ployed once  to  indicate  the  cells  of  a  honeycomb. 
There  are  a  great  many  brain  cells,  in  which  sweet 
thoughts  hke  honey  are  stored  away,  and  in  which  the 
foul  like  worms  lie  concealed.  They  are  all  there, 
good  and  bad,  and  God  has  but  to  open  the  door  of 
this  cranial  hive  to  have  displayed  as  through  trans- 
parent glass  all  that  has  been  secret  and  out  of  sight. 

The  inner  chambers,  to  vary  the  figure,  are  as 
multitudinous  as  those  of  any  labyrinth,  as  those 
even  of  that  most  famous  one  which  Herodotus 
visited  in  Egypt,  with  its  three  thousand  compart- 
ments. The  slayer  of  the  Cretan  Minotaur  did  not 
dare  enter  the  labyrinthian  retreat  of  that  fabled 
monster,  till  the  princess  of  the  island,  who  had  fallen 
in  love  with  the  hero,  had  furnished  him  with  a  clue 
of  thread,  by  which  he  might  make  his  way  out  after 


42    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

destroying  the  half-human  beast.  God  could  give  us 
a  clue  by  which  we  would  be  able  to  thread  the  intri- 
cate mazes  of  memory,  and  such  a  search  would 
doubtless  reveal  more  than  one  monstrous  sin  lurk- 
ing in  some  hidden  recess. 

Memory  is  a  vast  storehouse,  is  a  complicated 
honeycomb,  is  a  many  chambered  labyrinth,  retain- 
ing everything  that  has  been  done  or  said  or  felt, 
holding  in  reserve  for  some  future  day  of  reckoning 
every  deed  and  word  and  thought.  It  is,  as  Plato 
illustrates,  a  tablet  upon  which  successive  impressions 
are  made,  and  this  figure  enables  us  to  understand 
the  indelibility  of  what  is  once  committed  to  the 
memory.  There  are  ancient  manuscripts,  palimp- 
sests, which  have  been  written  over  again  and  again. 
The  first  text  has  been  erased,  and  a  later  one  has 
been  added.  Sometimes  there  has  been  a  third  and 
a  fourth  writing,  one  above  the  other.  Have  the 
first  characters  been  entirely  obliterated?  No,  but 
to  increase  the  difficulty  of  deciphering  them,  the 
vellum  leaves  frequently  have  been  bound  together  in 
a  different  order  each  time,  and  often  upside  down. 
But  by  painstaking  care,  and  by  chemical  applica- 
tions, and  by  various  expedients  known  to  adepts, 
repeatedly  has  the  original  writing,  after  a  supposed 
erasure,  been  restored.  More  than  one  classic  of 
antiquity  has  thus  been  rescued  from  oblivion,  and 
some  of  our  oldest  and  most  valuable  Biblical  manu- 
scripts have  in  this  way  been  discovered.     Like  oft- 


The  Power  and  Persistence  of  Memory    43 

used  parchment  is  memory,  upon  which  impression 
after  impression  has  been  made,  and  all  in  apparent 
confusion,  but  nothing  is  lost.  There  is  needed  only 
the  reveaHng  light  of  God,  and  the  subtle  chemistry 
of  heaven,  to  bring  everything  out  clear  once  more. 
As  under  some  Scriptural  might  be  a  pagan  writing, 
so  beneath  some  good  deed  may  be  an  evil  one,  lying 
there  a  secret  sin,  not  entirely  lost  to  memory  by  any 
means.  It  only  awaits  the  reading  of  the  great  De- 
cipherer of  the  heart's  hieroglyphics,  which  are  never 
wholly  obliterated  to  His  all-searching  eye. 

We  shall  remember  more  than  earth's  greatest 
prodigy  ever  did,  when  we  appear  *•  before  the  judg- 
ment seat  of  Christ."  We  can  see  from  the  illustra- 
tions which  have  been  employed  how  probably 
nothing  will  be  actually  forgotten.  "  Son,  re- 
member," is  what  was  said  of  the  man  in  the  gospel 
story,  and  straightway  he  recalled  all  the  past,  and 
he  was  filled  with  inexpressible  sorrow  thereby,  be- 
cause of  the  memory  of  neglected  opportunities. 
The  recollections  of  his  earthly  life  followed  him 
into  eternity. 

2.  Directing  our  attention  next  to  the  more  posi- 
tive side  of  our  subject.  Is  there  likely  to  arise  any 
crisis  which  will  so  stimulate  the  conscience,  that 
faded  memories  will  acquire  their  former  vividness 
and  distinctness  ?  Nothing  may  be  really  forgotten, 
but  if  the  undesirable  thing  is  to  be  forever  stored 
away  out  of  sight  in  some  hidden  cell,  or  in  some 


44    The  Modem  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

labyrinthian  chamber,  to  give  us  no  farther  uneasi- 
ness and  anxiety ;  if  it  is  not  to  be  discernible  on 
the  tablet  because  of  subsequent  and  more  agreeable 
impressions  ;  if  it  is  to  be  practically  forgotten,  great 
relief  would  be  afforded  the  mind  and  soul.  Is  there 
any  reason  for  supposing  that  there  will  be  a  repro- 
duction of  what  has  been  long  dormant  ?  Can  it  be 
possible  that  what  we  were  hardly  conscious  of  at 
the  time  will  be  capable  of  being  recalled  ? 

All  who  have  pursued  philosophical  studies  are 
acquainted  with  that  incident,  which  Coleridge  re- 
lates. A  German  servant  girl,  who  could  neither 
read  nor  write,  in  a  fever  astonished  everybody  by 
talking  very  correct  Latin,  Greek  and  Hebrew,  and 
she  was  beheved  by  many  to  be  demoniacally  pos- 
sessed. An  investigation  was  instituted,  and  it  was 
ascertained  that  years  before  she  had  worked  in  the 
family  of  a  very  scholarly  clergyman,  who  was  ac- 
customed to  walk  to  and  fro  and  to  read  in  her 
hearing  the  Greek  and  Latin  Fathers,  as  well  as  the 
Hebrew  Scriptures  and  certain  Rabbinical  volumes. 
So  many  of  the  sentences  of  the  young  woman's 
ravings  in  her  delirium  of  sickness  were  found  upon 
examination  to  correspond  exactly  to  passages  in  the 
books  which  she  had  heard  read  years  before,  there 
was  no  longer  a  question  but  that  under  a  nervous 
stimulus  and  exaltation  she  repeated  verbatim  senti- 
ments in  languages  which  she  did  not  at  all  under- 
stand. 


The  Power  and  Persistence  of  Memory    45 

If  what  memory  thus  ignorantly,  and  as  it  were 
mechanically,  like  a  Victor  record  holds,  can  be 
called  forth  from  hidden  recesses  under  an  excita- 
tion of  the  nervous  system,  how  much  more  intelli- 
gent acts  at  the  bidding  of  God,  however  far  they 
may  have  receded  in  memory's  labyrinth.  Those 
who  have  been  resuscitated  from  a  drowning  condi- 
tion testify  to  their  whole  life,  down  to  the  minutest 
details,  passing  almost  instantly  in  review  before  the 
mental  vision.  As  Hamlet  says  of  apparitions, 
"  There  are  more  things  in  heaven  and  earth  than 
are  dreamt  of  in  our  philosophy."  Not  only  is  no 
impression  apparently  ever  lost,  but  everything 
seems  likely  to  be  positively  recovered,  even  to  un- 
conscious acts.  We  do  not  know  what  may  be 
brought  against  us  at  the  bar  of  God.  "  God  shall 
judge  the  secrets  of  men,"  says  Paul  to  the  Romans, 
and  to  the  Corinthians  he  writes  that  God  "  will 
bring  to  light  the  hidden  things  of  darkness,  and 
make  manifest  the  counsels  of  the  heart." 

There  is  philosophy  in  the  Biblical  teaching  that 
for  every  idle  word  we  shall  have  to  give  an  account. 
Every  recess  of  the  labyrinth  will  be  exposed.  Every 
impression  on  the  tablet  will  be  made  legible.  Hence 
our  fear  that  there  may  be  sins,  of  which  we  know  not, 
to  rise  up  at  last  and  call  for  an  expiation.  There  is 
"  the  dread  of  something  after  death,"  as  says  the 
great  dramatist,  who  adds, 

"  Thus  conscience  doth  make  cowards  of  us  all.'* 


46    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

Or,  as  it  is  expressed  in  Shakespeare's  "  King  Richard 
the  Third": 

*<  My  conscience  hath  a  thousand  several  tongues, 
And  every  tongue  brings  in  a  several  tale, 
And  every  tale  condemns  me  for  a  villain." 

To  be  sure,  there  are  pleasant  recollections  which 
will  arise  in  that  judgment,  into  which  is  to  be 
brought  "  every  hidden  thing,  whether  it  be  good 
or  whether  it  be  evil."  There  is  a  constant  stream 
of  the  benevolent  as  well  as  of  the  malevolent. 
Wordsworth  says  : 

"  And,  when  the  stream 
Which  overflowed  the  soul  was  passed  away, 
A  consciousness  remained  that  it  had  left, 
Deposited  upon  the  silent  shore 
Of  memory,  images  and  precious  thoughts 
That  shall  not  die,  and  cannot  be  destroyed.'* 

There  are,  then,  recollections  both  pleasant  and 
otherwise  that  apparently  will  be  carried  over  from 
this  life  to  the  next.  If  all  the  impressions  ever 
made  upon  us  abide,  personality  to  which  they  be- 
long must  survive.  Our  separate  mental  acts  form 
a  continuous,  and,  we  may  logically  infer,  an  endless 
chain.  We  have  in  the  memory  an  explanation  of 
the  continuity  of  our  being.  In  our  intellectual  proc- 
esses, link  is  added  to  link  ad  infinitum.  This  makes 
a  future  so  prolonged  an  appalling  thing,  especially 
when  we  reflect  that  our  vices  far  outnumber  our 


The  Power  and  Persistence  of  Meoiory    47 

virtues,  that  our  deficiencies  vastly  exceed  our  ex- 
cellencies. 

This  consideration  causes  us  to  wish  to  be  true 
what  indeed  is  held  out  in  Holy  Writ  as  a  hope  and 
even  an  assurance,  that  there  is  a  forgetting  on  the 
part  of  the  Infinite.  Of  Him  it  is  said,  "  Their  sins 
and  iniquities  will  I  remember  no  more."  As  the 
fabled  ring  of  Gyges  in  classic  story  is  said  to  have 
rendered  the  wearer  invisible,  so  the  ring  which  the 
Father  places  upon  the  hand  of  the  penitent  will  for- 
ever bHnd  even  the  all-seeing  eyes  to  pardoned  sins, 
and  the  prophecy  of  Micah  will  be  fulfilled,  "  Thou 
shalt  cast  all  their  sins  into  the  depths  of  the  sea." 
Memory's  tablet  at  last  will  have  the  hitherto  most 
indeUble  impressions  of  guilt  perfectly  erased  by 
Him,  who  is  represented  by  Paul  as  having  "  blotted 
out  the  bond  written  in  ordinances  that  was  against 
us,  nailing  it  to  the  cross."  We  shall  be  troubled  no 
more  by  our  sins,  for  they  shall  be  "  nailed,"  nailed 
to  the  cross.  In  no  other  way  can  we  escape  the 
eternal  uprising  of  guilty  memories  that  like  specters 
haunt  the  soul.  Only  by  divine  grace  can  we  des- 
troy those  disturbing  ghosts  that  lurk  in  labyrinthian 
recesses.  Holding  to  the  scarlet  thread  of  salvation 
furnished  us  by  the  Prince  of  peace,  we  in  the  end 
shall  have  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  our  most  secret 
sins  entirely  overcome  and  completely  eradicated 
from  our  natures.  Memory  shall  be  only  a  gladsome 
possession. 


IV 

The  Will  as  a  Factor  in  Determining 
Destiny 

OUR  next  inquiry  is  as  to  how  one  can  relate 
and  properly  adjust  himself  to  the  situation 
as  outlined,  to  the  strange  environment 
wherein,  without  any  choice  of  his  own,  he  is  so 
mysteriously  born.  What  is  it  that  determines  his 
destiny  ?  The  Master  gave  a  very  specific  answer 
to  that  question  when  He  said,  "  If  any  man  willeth 
to  do  his  will,  he  shall  know  of  the  teaching."  At 
another  time  He  said  in  further  elucidation  of  this 
thought,  "  Ye  will  not  come  to  me,  that  ye  may 
have  Hfe." 

Man  is  a  trinity.  He  is  intellect,  feeling  and  will. 
He  acquires  knowledge,  he  receives  impressions 
pleasurable  or  painful,  and  he  acts,  he  puts  forth 
effort.  Philosophy  generally  makes  this  threefold 
division  of  the  mind.  Or  if  now  there  is  often  a 
different  nomenclature,  we  can  at  least  say  with 
Prof.  Josiah  Royce  of  Harvard  fame,  "  That  the 
traditional  view  has  a  real  significance  cannot  be 
questioned."  Following,  then,  what  even  he  admits 
is  "  the  usual  division  of  mental  life,"  there  are  the 
cognitive  faculties  by  which  we  learn  about  an  ob- 

48 


The  Will  in  Determining  Destiny        49 

ject,  there  are  the  emotions  which  are  produced 
thereby,  and  there  are  the  consequent  decisions 
which  are  made.  In  which  of  these  does  reUgious 
character  he  ? 

We  sometimes  have  confused  ideas  here,  we  do 
not  have  well-defined  views.  We  have  a  good  com- 
prehension of  the  physical,  of  what  we  can  see,  or 
hear,  or  taste,  or  smell,  or  feel.  We  know  just  how 
many  senses  we  have,  and  we  understand  what  each 
of  the  five  is  for.  We  do  not  always  have  as  clear  a 
conception  of  the  faculties  of  the  soul.  We  do  not 
seem  to  comprehend  that  mental  phenomena  spring 
from  three  separate  and  distinct  functions  of  the 
mind,  the  power  to  know,  the  power  to  feel,  and  the 
power  to  act.  Sir  William  Hamilton  in  his  "  Meta- 
physics "  used  an  illustration  that  is  worth  recalling. 
One  sees  a  beautiful  work  of  art.  He  recognizes 
what  it  is,  the  faculty  of  knowledge  is  exercised.  He 
experiences  agreeable  affections,  the  capacity  of  feel- 
ing appears.  He  decides  to  possess  the  treasure,  the 
power  of  action  comes  into  play.  Now  with  regard 
to  the  material,  one  is  not  at  a  loss  how  to  proceed 
with  his  senses.  He  looks,  he  listens,  he  uses  his 
olfactory  organ,  he  tests  with  the  palate,  he  touches, 
applying  to  the  object  each  of  the  five  senses  of  the 
body.  With  equal  facility,  and  with  as  nice  a  dis- 
crimination as  to  the  peculiar  use  of  each,  should  he 
be  able  to  apply  the  three  faculties  of  the  mind.  He 
should  know  the  truth,  he  should  be  susceptible  to  it, 


50    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

and  he  should  choose  it,  and  the  last  is  what  deter- 
mines if  he  is  a  Christian.  Knowledge  and  feeling 
are  insufficient,  unless  they  lead  up  to  a  choice. 

I.  First,  as  to  knowledge.  This  includes  all  that 
can  be  acquired  by  the  intellect,  and  that  is  not  un- 
important. Instruction  in  religious  things  is  neces- 
sary. Here  we  find  the  reason  for  preaching,  and 
no  other  religion  compares  with  Christianity  in  that 
feature.  There  is  something  inspiring  in  the  fact 
that  every  Sunday  clear  round  the  globe  discourses 
are  given  on  the  noblest  topics  which  can  occupy 
the  attention  of  humanity.  The  sermons  preached 
on  a  single  Lord's  Day  in  the  United  States  alone 
would  make  a  library  of  immense  proportions.  How 
multitudinous  would  be  the  volumes,  which  should 
contain  all  the  pulpit  literature  of  our  land  for  a 
whole  year  !  We  can  scarcely  measure  the  sermonic 
productions  through  all  the  years  of  the  past,  and  for 
all  countries.  We  might  almost  say  of  sermons 
what  John  said  of  the  sayings  of  Christ,  "  If  they 
should  be  written  every  one,  I  suppose  that  even  the 
world  itself  would  not  contain  the  books." 

Besides,  there  has  grown  up  in  the  last  century 
another  agency  for  the  impartation  of  knowledge, 
and  that  is  the  Sabbath-school.  For  every  preacher 
there  are  several  teachers,  whose  text-book  is  the 
Bible.  Nor  is  it  an  occasional  lesson  which  they 
give  out  of  God's  Word,  but  the  instruction  is  re- 
newed from  week  to  week  and  from  year  to  year. 


The  Will  in  Determining  Destiny        51 

Then  there  is  to  be  added  the  knowledge  gained  of 
divine  things  in  the  home.  Every  mother  instils  the 
precepts  of  the  Gospel  in  young  minds.  Children 
are  taught  the  facts  of  religion  in  the  very  nursery, 
and  they  never  forget  vi^hat  they  learn  from  parental 
lips.  Verily  the  opportunities  for  knowing  about 
God  are  abundant.  Literature,  too,  is  full  of  sacred 
lore.  The  very  newspapers  which  have  enterprise 
report  the  teachings  of  the  pulpit.  The  great  Maga- 
zines and  Reviews  contain  elaborate  articles  in  the 
realm  of  theology.  No  one  in  Christendom  need 
perish  from  lack  of  knowledge.  The  difficulty  is  not 
anywhere  ignorance  of  the  way  of  salvation. 

People  will  say  very  frankly,  We  know  that  we 
ought  to  do  differently,  that  we  ought  to  be  Chris- 
tians, that  we  ought  to  be  more  consistent  as  church- 
members.  And  yet  very  likely,  so  far  as  taking  a 
positive  stand  is  concerned,  they  are  waiting  for 
clearer  perceptions,  not  appreciating  that  knowledge 
at  the  best  must  be  limited  in  our  finite  state.  Now 
we  know  in  part,  says  an  apostle.  There  are  and 
must  be  things  which  we  have  not  satisfactorily 
settled.  There  may  be  questions  about  inspiration, 
about  evolution,  about  the  antiquity  of  man,  there 
may  be  great  moral  and  scientific  problems,  upon 
which  we  are  intellectually  befogged,  and  therefore 
if  we  are  approached  on  the  topic  of  personal  piety, 
if  we  are  urged  to  commit  ourselves  religiously,  we 
hesitate  and  say  that  we  do  not  know  about  it,  for 


52    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

there  are  some  things  we  do  not  quite  understand. 
We  imagine  or  try  to  make  ourselves  believe  that 
the  obstacle  is  a  mental  one,  whereas  the  great 
Teacher  gives  the  true  explanation  of  our  attitude, 
when  He  says,  "  Ye  will  not  come  to  me." 

Our  knowledge  is  sufficient,  but  our  willingness 
is  not.  What  we  need  to  do  is  not  to  store  the  mind 
more,  but  to  make  it  up.  It  is  not  a  matter  of  in- 
tellectual comprehension  so  much  as  of  moral  de- 
cision. Absolute  knowledge  is  not  necessary,  but  the 
willing  spirit  is  what  is  essential.  With  line  upon 
line,  and  precept  upon  precept,  from  the  pulpit,  and 
in  the  Sunday-school,  and  within  the  home,  and 
through  the  public  print,  we  all  have  knowledge 
enough.  Indeed  we  may  have  so  far  come  into  in- 
tellectual accord  with  the  Gospel,  our  minds  may 
have  so  far  accepted  the  truths  of  Christianity,  that 
we  are  resting  in  our  mental  beliefs.  We  have  not 
made  any  choice  in  religion.  The  teachings  of 
Scripture  meet  with  our  approval,  but  we  have  not 
consciously  accepted  their  author.  Our  will  has  not 
acted,  and  until  it  does,  all  our  knowledge  will  be  in 
vain. 

2.  In  the  second  place,  religious  character  does 
not  lie  in  sensibility,  any  more  than  in  knowledge. 
There  may  be  the  capacity  to  feel,  and  to  feel  nobly, 
while  yet  there  is  no  genuine  religion.  People 
may  have  high  aspirations,  they  may  be  stirred  by 
fine  sentiments.     They  may  be  deeply  moved  by  ex- 


The  Will  in  Determining  Destiny        53 

alted  views  of  God.  They  may  be  able  to  portray 
the  divine  attributes  with  wondrous  effect.  And 
yet  they  may  have  no  religious  principles.  Ir- 
religious  poets  have  written  very  excellent  hymns, 
which  the  most  devout  love  to  sing.  Horace  Bush- 
nell  has  very  properly  distinguished  between  a 
religious  nature  and  religious  character  in  a  person, 
who,  he  says,  "  may  even  go  so  far  as  to  enjoy  the 
greatness  and  beauty  of  God,  and  have  the  finest 
things  to  say  of  Him,  and  have  no  trace  of  a  genuinely 
religious  character,  any  more  than  if  he  were  enjoy- 
ing or  praising  a  landscape.  He  will  do  the  two 
things,  in  fact,  in  exactly  the  same  manner,  and  one 
will  have  just  as  much  to  do  for  his  piety  as  the 
other,"  and  we  might  add  that  neither  will  have  any- 
thing to  do  therewith.  Chalmers,  the  eloquent 
Scotch  orator,  made  the  same  distinction.  He 
produced  a  profound  impression  by  his  far-famed 
"Astronomical  Discourses,"  which  remain  to  us  in 
published  form.  He  closed  the  series  with  a  sermon 
from  that  text  in  Ezekiel,  "  Thou  art  unto  them 
as  a  very  lovely  song  of  one  that  hath  a  pleasant 
voice,  and  can  play  well  on  an  instrument :  for  they 
hear  thy  words,  but  they  do  them  not."  From  this 
passage  of  Scripture  he  deduced  the  theme  of  the 
futility  "  of  mere  taste  and  sensibility  in  matters  of 
religion."  He  made  bold  to  say,  "  that  as  much  de- 
light may  emanate  from  the  pulpit  on  an  arrested 
audience   beneath   it,  as   ever   emanated   from   the 


54    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

boards  of  a  theater,  aye,  and  with  as  total  a  disjunc- 
tion of  mind,  too,  in  the  one  case  as  in  the  other, 
from  the  essence  or  habit  of  rehgion."  After  he  had 
made  his  vast  audiences  feel  the  beauties  and  sub- 
limities and  magnitudes  and  amplitudes  of  creation, 
he  yet  insisted  that  "  conscience  may  be  in  a  state 
of  the  most  entire  dormancy,  and  the  man  be  regal- 
ing himself  with  the  magnificence  of  God,  while  he 
neither  loves  God,  nor  believes  God,  nor  obeys 
God." 

So  that  it  is  not  enough  to  be  in  sympathy  with 
the  truth  at  certain  ecstatic  moments.  People  will 
go  to  church  and  enjoy  the  singing.  They  feel  up- 
Hfted  by  the  prayers.  They  drink  in  with  delight 
the  elevated  sentiments  which  flow  from  the  sacred 
desk.  They  not  only  know  about  the  kingdom,  but 
they  take  a  certain  satisfaction  therein.  They  ex- 
perience pleasure  in  listening  to  the  unfolding  of  some 
religious  thought,  to  the  development  of  themes  that 
relate  to  heaven  and  eternity.  They  go  from  the 
house  of  God  with  nobler  impulses,  and  with  grander 
views  of  life.  They  have  a  good  understanding  of 
religion,  and  they  have  a  great  admiration  therefor. 
They  really  would  like  to  be  Christians.  And  yet 
they  may  not  be,  though  their  intellects  may  endorse 
every  utterance  of  the  pulpit,  and  though  their  feel- 
ings may  respond  to  every  tender  appeal. 

Herod,  the  murderer  of  John,  heard  the  Baptist 
gladly.     Pilate  was   so  impressed  with  the  godlike 


The  Will  in  Determining  Destiny        55 

bearing  of  Christ,  whom  he  yet  dehvered  to  the  exe- 
cutioner, that  he  washed  his  hands  as  an  expression 
of  his  desire  to  be  held  innocent  of  the  great  crime, 
with  which  nevertheless  his  name  ever  since  has  been 
justly  associated.  The  feelings  of  both  Herod  and 
Pilate  were  moved,  but  their  wills  were  not.  Some- 
thing more  than  religious  susceptibility  is  needed. 
There  is  often  too  much  reliance  placed  upon  the 
emotions.  Not  that  these  are  to  be  depreciated. 
They  are  natural  and  proper.  There  should  be  glow 
and  rapture,  when  the  things  of  God  and  the  im- 
mortal soul  are  contemplated.  But  an  occasional  or 
a  periodic  excitation  of  our  natures  is  not  religion  by 
any  means. 

It  is  too  much  like  the  famous  Sabbatic  River,  to 
which  PHny  refers,  and  of  which  Josephus  gives  this 
description  :  "  When  it  runs,  its  current  is  strong  and 
has  plenty  of  water,  after  which  its  springs  fail  for 
six  days  together,  and  leave  its  channel  dry,  as  any 
one  may  see.  After  which  days  it  runs  on  the 
seventh  as  it  did  before,  and  as  though  it  had  under- 
gone no  change  at  all.  It  has  also  been  observed  to 
keep  this  order  perpetually  and  exactly,  whence  it  is 
that  they  call  it  the  Sabbatic  River,"  because  it 
flowed  only  every  seventh  day.  Thus  intermittent 
is  emotional  rehgion,  which  flows  full  and  impetuous 
in  a  rush  of  feelings  on  the  Sabbath,  but  which  has 
no  steady  current  of  principle  and  of  purpose.  It 
fails  during  the  trials  and  temptations  of  the  week. 


56    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

It  is  wholly  Sabbatic  in  its  nature,  or  at  least  it  does 
not  pour  forth  a  constant  stream  of  good  influences. 

A  moving  of  the  sentiments  is  all  right  so  far  as 
it  goes,  but  an  act  of  volition,  with  an  unswerving 
purpose  subsequently,  is  what  is  specially  needed.  It 
is  a  mistaken  notion  to  suppose  that  a  religious  life 
springs  from  uncertain  and  unreliable  sensibiHty. 
And  yet  many  are  looking  for  some  mysterious 
moving  of  this  pool  for  spiritual  healing,  whereas 
they  should  be  hke  the  impotent  man  at  the  pool  of 
Bethesda,  who,  after  waiting  for  years  to  be  put  into 
the  water  when  it  was  troubled,  at  last  heard  the 
voice  of  Jesus  saying,  "Rise,  take  up  thy  bed,  and 
walk,"  and  who,  it  is  recorded,  •'  took  up  his  bed,  and 
walked."  We  want  in  Christianity  no  intermittent 
spring,  no  pool  of  Bethesda  folly,  but  exertive  power 
in  response  to  the  divine  summons  for  action  on  the 
part  of  the  lethargic  will.  To  any,  who  excuse  them- 
selves from  becoming  Christians  on  the  ground  of  a 
lack  of  feeling,  on  the  ground  of  too  great  insensi- 
bility to  sin  and  God's  love,  on  the  ground  of  not 
being  profoundly  enough  moved, — to  such  the  Mas- 
ter says  that  the  real  reason  why  they  hold  back  is, 
'*  Ye  will  not  come  to  me."  The  lack  is  not  knowl- 
edge, they  know  enough  to  be  saved.  The  lack  is 
not  feeling,  they  may  be  relying  too  much  on  the 
moving  of  the  sensibility,  which  is  not  decisive  of  re- 
hgious  character  at  all.  The  lack  is  in  the  matter  of 
choice,  they  do  not  will  to  become  Christians. 


The  Will  in  Determining  Destiny        57 

3.  There  remains,  therefore,  only  this  one  thing 
to  do.  It  is  to  decide.  "  Choose  you  this  day,"  said 
Joshua  of  old.  Reverting  to  the  philosophical  an- 
alysis of  the  mind,  cognition  and  emotion  are  only 
designed  to  lead  up  to  volition.  When  we  know 
about  religion,  when  we  are  informed  as  to  its  excel- 
lencies, we  feel  that  it  is  a  good  thing,  we  desire  to 
be  Christians,  but  unless  we  determine  to  be,  unless 
our  will  acts,  all  is  in  vain  so  far  as  actual  possession 
is  concerned.  We  might  be  aware  of  the  value  of  a 
diamond,  or  of  a  certain  painting  being  by  one  of  the 
masters,  we  might  long  to  own  the  treasure,  but  un- 
less we  decided  to  possess  it,  it  would  never  be  ours. 
We  may  understand  what  is  meant  by  the  pearl  of 
great  price,  in  PauHne  language  we  may  earnestly 
covet  this  best  of  all  gifts,  but  unless,  as  the  parable 
says,  we  go  and  get  it,  unless  our  knowledge  and 
feeling  take  shape  in  action,  the  gospel  pearl  will  not 
be  gained. 

The  whole  responsibility  is  lodged  in  the  imperial 
human  will,  which  even  Omnipotence  cannot  con- 
sistently coerce.  What  dignity  is  thus  conferred 
upon  man !  His  knowledge  is  superb,  his  sensibihty 
is  often  exquisite,  but  his  will  is  magisterial.  It  en- 
ables him  to  withstand  God  Himself.  In  intellectual 
capacity  he  cannot  compare  with  Him  who  knows 
all  things.  In  fine  feeling  he  cannot  equal  the  in- 
finitely pure  and  holy  One.  In  the  wonderful  power 
of  choice  he  stands  on  the  same  level  as  his  Maker, 


58    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

to  whom  he  can  say,  "  I  will,"  and  "  I  will  not."  By 
this  marvellous  third  faculty  of  the  mind  he  can  ac- 
cept or  reject  salvation.  There  is  where  the  deter- 
mination of  his  eternity  lies,  in  the  will.  If  he  wants 
to  become  a  Christian,  he  can,  by  simply  making  the 
decision,  without  waiting  for  more  knowledge  or  a 
deeper  feehng.  To  be  sure  an  apostle  says,  "  It  is 
God  which  worketh  in  you  both  to  will  and  to  work," 
but  after  all  every  one  is  consciously  a  free  moral 
agent,  and  he  realizes  that  in  a  sense  he  is  the  archi- 
tect of  his  own  fortune,  that  the  determination  of  his 
everlasting  destiny  remains  largely  in  his  own  con- 
trol.    Emerson  with  prophetic  insight  said : 

"  So  nigh  is  grandeur  to  our  dust, 
So  near  is  God  to  man. 
When  Duty  whispers  low,  Thou  must, 
The  youth  replies,  I  can." 

God  helps  those  only  who  help  themselves.  As  He 
imparted  strength  to  the  palsied  arm  so  that  it  could 
be  stretched  forth  according  to  command,  so  He 
strengthens  the  enfeebled  will. 

There  is  no  occasion  for  confusion  here.  We  do 
not  have  to  know  or  feel  any  more.  It  only  remains 
for  us  to  act,  to  choose.  That  is  the  final  step  to 
take  in  any  department  of  life.  In  the  matter  of  a 
profession,  one  may  consult  his  acquisitions  and  his 
inclinations,  but  he  becomes  a  merchant,  or  a  lawyer, 
or  a  physician,  by  a  definite,  deliberate  choice.     A 


The  Will  in  Determining  Destiny        59 

woman  may  find  out  all  she  can  about  her  suitor, 
she  may  consider  the  affections,  but  she  becomes 
a  wife  only  by  a  distinct,  voluntary  act.  The  really 
determinative  faculty  every  time  is  the  regal  will. 
In  the  sphere  of  religion  a  person  should  get  all  the 
knowledge  he  can  of  God,  he  should  be  as  suscep- 
tible as  possible  to  spiritual  impressions,  intellect  and 
emotion  are  not  to  be  disparaged,  but  the  supremely 
important  thing  is  to  choose,  and  the  decisive  choice 
can  be  made  at  once. 

Pizarro,  the  conqueror  of  Peru,  once  summoned 
his  hesitating  followers  to  a  decision.  He  gathered 
them  around  him,  with  his  sword  drew  a  Hne  in  the 
sand,  and  said  that  on  the  south  side  would  be  toil 
and  hunger,  though  with  a  rich,  final  reward,  while 
on  the  north  side  would  be  ease  and  safety,  but  with 
no  satisfactory  compensation  in  the  end.  Then  came 
the  ringing  appeal,  "  Choose,  each  man,  what  best 
becomes  a  brave  Castilian.  For  my  part,  I  go  to  the 
south."  Thereupon  he  himself  stepped  over  to  the 
southern  side  of  the  line.  A  few  others  did  the 
same,  but  the  rest  returned  northward.  We  all 
know  that  glory  came  to  those  who  made  the  right 
choice,  it  came  in  the  historic  conquest  of  Peru.  So 
it  is  yet.  Happy  will  be  all  those  who,  at  some 
sacrifice  of  the  temporal,  will  resolutely  step  over 
the  line  to  win  the  eternal.  Every  one,  like  Julius 
Caesar,  should  cross  his  Rubicon,  and  with  such  de- 
cisive action  he  can  say  with  him  of  the  long  ago  in 


6o    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

terms  of  fine  accomplishment,  *'  I  came,  I  saw,  I  con- 
quered," or,  as  it  is  so  strikingly  phrased  in  allitera- 
tive Latin,  "  Veni,  vidi,  vici."  This  is  the  way  to 
move  on  to  the  eternal  city,  not  to  that  on  the 
yellow  Tiber,  but  to  that  on  the  river  bright  as 
crystal. 


Cornelian  Inquiries  as  to  the  Great 
Essential 

WE  have  historic  reference  to  "  the  noblest 
Roman  of  them  all,"  but  most  Romans 
in  the  best  days  of  the  Empire  were  na- 
ture's noblemen.  All  the  centurions  mentioned  in 
the  New  Testament  were  of  high  character.  On  the 
occasion  of  Paul's  voyage  Romeward,  this  was  true 
of  that  Julius  who  courteously  permitted  the  apostle 
though  a  prisoner  certain  liberties.  During  the  stop- 
ping of  the  ship  at  Sidon,  he  kindly  allowed  him  to 
^o  ashore,  "  gave  him  leave  to  go  unto  his  friends 
and  refresh  himself."  When  the  well-known  ship- 
wreck followed  at  a  later  stage  of  the  journey,  the 
soldiers  wanted  "  to  kill  the  prisoners,  lest  any  of 
them  should  swim  out,  and  escape.  But  the  cen- 
turion, desiring  to  save  Paul,  stayed  them  from  their 
purpose."  The  centurion  at  Capernaum  appears  to 
an  equally  good  advantage.  He  was  deeply  con- 
cerned for  a  slave  of  his,  who,  it  is  said,  was  "  dear 
unto  him,"  and  whose  recovery  was  besought  of  the 
Lord  by  the  Jewish  elders  on  the  ground  of  his  great 
generosity,  **  himself  built  us  our  synagogue."  It 
was  the  centurion  at  the  cross  who,  much  impressed, 

6i 


62    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

said,  •'  Truly  this  was  the  Son  of  God."  There  was 
a  fourth  centurion,  in  whom  Peter  became  much  in- 
terested, and  who  is  introduced  to  us  by  the  book  of 
the  Acts,  when  there  was  a  divine  voice  "  saying  to 
him,  Cornelius."  When  Hke  him  the  modern  man 
responds  to  the  appeal  to  live  for  what  is  highest,  he 
yet  may  miss  what  should  be  the  culminating  ex- 
perience. He  may  be  satisfied  with  what  is  al- 
together excellent,  while  forgetting  what  is  most 
vital.  He  may  have  various  moral  virtues,  while 
lacking  a  deep  religious  experience. 

In  making  inquiries  as  to  the  great  essential  in 
human  life,  we  will  direct  attention  to  members  of 
the  great  Cornelian  family,  which  has  had  distin- 
guished historical  representatives,  who  are  constantly 
being  reproduced  in  their  religious  attitude.  We 
may  call  them  all  Cornelians,  which  is  also  the  name 
of  a  highly-prized  gem,  though  the  latter  is  more 
generally  spelled  with  an  a  instead  of  an  o  in  the 
first  syllable,  while  yet  both  spellings  are  allowable. 
As  a  precious  stone  the  cornelian  was  one  of  the 
twelve  set  in  gold  in  the  breastplate  of  the  High 
Priest  in  Old  Testament  times,  being  more  usually 
designated,  however,  as  sardius.  When  the  prophet 
Ezekiel  wished  to  portray  the  magnificence  of  the 
prince  of  Tyre,  he  made  the  cornelian  or  sardius  to 
be  one  of  the  costly  gems  adorning  his  person.  The 
sixth  foundation  in  the  wall  of  the  celestial  city  was 
the  same  bright-red  stone.     When  the  inspired  reve- 


Cornelian  Inquiries  63 

lator  set  forth  the  glory  of  Him  who  sits  on  the 
throne  in  heaven,  he  hkened  Him  to  the  sardius  to 
"  look  upon."  The  cornelian's  beauty  of  colour, 
therefore,  may  fittingly  be  made  to  symbolize  Christ- 
hke  character. 

Now  we  are  to  consider  various  Cornelians,  who 
have  adorned  history,  and  who,  all  of  them,  might 
have  become  gems  for  the  Master's  own  ornamenta- 
tion, when  He  comes  to  make  up  His  jewels,  to  gather 
His  peculiar  treasure.  Gems  in  their  natural  state 
may  shine,  and  yet  be  capable  of  a  higher  polish, 
thus  attaining  unto  their  fullest  briUiancy.  We 
shall  have  this  illustrated  in  our  consideration  of 
various  Cornelians  under  suggestion  from  the  Cor- 
nehus  of  the  New  Testament.  At  Csesarea  were 
quartered  Roman  soldiers,  one  of  whose  bands,  re- 
cruited from  Italy,  was  commanded  by  a  centurion, 
to  whom  a  personal,  religious  appeal  was  made,  and 
the  result  was  that  he  became  a  Christian. 

His  conversion  was  the  more  striking  because  of 
his  prominent  position.  The  Gospel  at  first  gained 
most  of  its  adherents  from  the  lower  walks  of  life,  but 
Julian,  the  apostate  emperor  of  the  fourth  century, 
that  intellectual  and  yet  impotent  opposer  of  the 
Church,  admitted  that  Cornelius  was  one  of  a  few 
persons  of  distinction  who  espoused  Christianity. 
He,  therefore,  may  have  belonged  to  the  great 
Cornelian  family  so  renowned  in  Roman  history. 
Highly  favoured  as  he  wa.=  in  this  respect,  he  was 


64    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

not  satisfied.  There  was  a  voice  speaking  his  name, 
and  not  till  he  gave  heed  thereto  did  he  find  peace. 
There  was  started  in  his  heart  an  inquiry  which  led 
to  his  listening  to  the  story  of  the  cross  as  told  by 
Peter,  and  to  his  baptism  on  profession  of  a  new  ex- 
perience and  faith.  It  would  have  seemed  that  he 
if  any  one  could  have  gotten  along  without  any  such 
revolution  of  character.  He  was  as  exemplary  as  the 
model  young  man  of  the  New  Testament.  We  are 
to  see  how  much  there  was  to  make  him  contented 
with  his  lot,  we  are  to  make  some  exclusively  Cor- 
nelian inquiries. 

I.  He  was  first  of  all  in  the  line  of  military  pro- 
motion and  glory.  He  was  an  officer  in  the  best 
army  that  ever  marched  to  victory.  Nor  was  he  put 
in  charge  of  mercenary  troops,  of  soldiers  enlisted 
from  foreign  and  barbaric  countries.  His  company 
was  formed  out  of  genuine  Romans,  out  of  the  noble 
stock  of  Italy,  the  very  center  of  power  in  the  mighty 
empire.  He  was,  we  read,  "  centurion  of  the  band 
called  the  Italian  band."  Nero  afterwards  had  an 
Italian  legion  "  of  men,"  says  Suetonius,  '•  all  six  feet 
high."  It  was  the  material  from  which  the  emperors 
chose  their  body-guards.  Such  was  the  desirable 
command  of  CorneHus.  There  was  before  him,  then, 
an  honourable  career,  and  all  the  more  so  because 
there  coursed  through  his  veins  the  blood  of  great 
generals. 

Let  me  mention  only  one  of  his  military  ancestry. 


Cornelian  Inquiries  65 

When  the  famous  Hannibal,  whom  at  the  early  age 
of  nine  his  father  at  a  pagan  altar  made  swear  eternal 
enmity  to  Rome,  when  as  a  man  this  genius  of 
northern  Africa  crossed  over  into  Spain,  scaled  the 
snowy  Alps,  and  descended  into  the  sunny  plains 
of  Italy,  when  45,000  Romans  there  fell  m  a  single 
battle  before  the  conquering  hero,  when  among  the 
killed  were  so  many  men  of  rank  that  three  bushels 
of  signet  rings  are  said  to  have  been  gathered  from 
the  distinguished  dead,  when  in  this  crisis  with 
Hannibal  thundering  at  the  gates  of  Rome,  it  was 
seriously  proposed  by  those  in  authority  to  abandon 
Italy,  there  rushed  into  the  counsel  chamber  with 
drawn  sword  to  protest  against  such  cowardice  a 
young  man  of  eighteen,  and  his  name  was  Publius 
Cornelius  Scipio  Africanus  Major. 

This  Cornelian  Scipio  at  the  age  of  twenty-four 
defeated  Hannibal's  brother  in  Spain,  and  then  pro- 
posed to  measure  swords  with  Hannibal  himself,  and 
how  did  he  proceed?  "  He  thought,"  says  Plutarch, 
"  the  occupation  of  contesting  Italy  with  Hannibal 
a  mere  old  man's  employment,  and  he  proposed  no 
less  a  task  to  himself  than  to  make  Carthage  the  seat 
of  war,  fill  Africa  with  arms  and  devastation,  and  so 
obhge  Hannibal,  instead  of  invading  the  countries 
of  others,  to  draw  back  and  defend  his  own."  The 
plan  succeeded,  and  Hannibal  was  finally  overcome 
on  his  own  soil.  It  was  a  member  of  the  Cornelian 
family  who  made  this  bold  venture  and  gained  this 


66    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

splendid  victory,  and  who  thus  gave  rise  to  an  expres- 
sion which  is  heard  to  this  day  more  than  two  thousand 
years  after  the  event,  namely,  the  expression,  to  carry 
the  war  i7tto  Afnca^  meaning  thereby  a  sort  of  ven- 
turesome but  successful  flank  movement.  Cornelius 
Scipio  Africanus  was  the  name  of  the  conqueror  of 
Hannibal,  and  Cornelius  was  the  name  of  the  cen- 
turion of  the  Italian  band,  who  heard  a  voice  direct- 
ing him  to  something  better  than  military  glory,  of 
which  he  would  seem  to  have  been  assured  in  view 
of  his  ancestry  and  his  own  present  advancement. 
But  he  was  not  at  ease. 

Nor  are  people  now  at  rest,  though  getting  on 
well  in  secular  Hfe.  They  may  be  doing  a  good 
business,  they  may  be  in  the  way  of  professional 
promotion,  they  may  have  everything  to  encourage 
them  in  the  prosecution  of  their  worldly  plans,  but  to 
Cornelius  there  was  as  much  if  not  more  to  make 
him  content,  and  yet  he  was  not.  There  was  a  sug- 
gestion that  he  had  not  yet  gotten  in  the  line  of  true 
glory.  Not  till  he  became  a  soldier  of  the  cross, 
not  till  he  was  assured  of  a  crown  in  heaven,  not  till 
he  had  seen  that  he  could  become  a  king  to  reign  to 
all  eternity,  not  till  he  had  been  baptized  in  this  faith, 
were  the  cravings  of  his  nature  met.  To  every  one 
now  however  successful  in  hfe  comes  a  voice  point- 
ing from  the  earthly  to  the  heavenly.  As  the  Roman 
officer  was  exhorted  to  become  a  Christian  soldier, 
so  the  merchant  is  urged  to  lay  up  treasures  on  high, 


Cornelian  Inquiries  67 

the  doctor  is  advised  to  consult  the  great  Physician, 
the  lawyer  is  referred  to  that  "  Advocate  with  the 
Father  "  who  alone  can  plead  his  case  before  "  the 
Judge  of  all  the  earth,"  every  one  is  entreated  to 
place  his  affections  on  things  above,  on  what  alone 
can  satisfy  the  deepest  wants.  Cornelius  became  a 
true  Cornelian.  The  immortal  soul  needs  to  be 
saved  to  shine  as  a  gem  of  the  first  order. 

2.  Cornelius  also  was  evidently  happy  in  his 
family,  as  well  as  fortunate  in  the  way  of  personal 
success.  The  sacred  narrative  mentions  him  in  con- 
nection "  with  all  his  house,"  and  intimates  that  they 
were  animated  by  one  purpose.  When  Peter  came, 
the  whole  household  were  together,  waiting  in  unison. 
It  was  no  divided  home,  harmony  and  love  prevailed. 
Probably  Cornelius  was  as  domestic  in  his  tastes  as 
that  ancestress  of  his,  the  daughter  of  Cornelius  Scipio 
to  whom  allusion  has  been  made,  who  bore  the 
family  name,  being  known  as  Cornelia.  "  Her  char- 
acter," says  the  American  Cyclopaedia,  "  was  the 
purest  of  any  woman's  mentioned  in  the  historical 
period  of  Rome."  It  was  she  who  was  so  devoted 
to  her  children,  and  who,  upon  being  asked  to  show 
her  jewels  by  a  caller  profusely  decked  out  in  this 
regard,  sent  for  her  two  boys,  and  when  they  appeared 
she  said,  "  These  are  my  jewels,  and  their  virtues  are 
my  ornaments."  This  scene  art  has  preserved  in  the 
picture  not  infrequently  seen  of  a  mother  and  her 
children,  while  below  are  the  suggestive  words,  Her 


68    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

Jewels.  Thus  long,  for  more  than  twenty  centuries, 
has  Cornelia  been  remembered  for  her  devotion  to 
her  children,  for  her  domestic  excellencies. 

The  Cornehus  under  consideration,  a  descendant 
presumably  of  hers,  seems  to  have  taken  equal  satis- 
faction in  his  home.  But  while  his  felicity  in  this 
respect  was  well-nigh  complete,  there  was  a  voice 
which  woke  an  echo  in  his  soul,  which  roused 
slumbering  and  unmet  wants.  He  was  not  content 
till  under  his  roof  the  One  altogether  lovely  had 
taken  up  an  abode.  Nor  does  the  home  now,  ap- 
proximate as  it  may  perfection,  meet  all  the  wants 
of  the  soul.  A  mother  may  rejoice  in  her  children, 
as  Cornelia  did,  but  when  particularly  they  are  called 
to  "  cross  the  bar,"  there  is  a  sorrow  which  cannot  be 
comforted  without  Him  who  is  "  the  resurrection  and 
the  life."  A  daughter  may  have  ever  so  attractive  a 
home,  she  may  be  fondly  loved  there,  but  so  long  as 
she  does  not  respond  to  a  heavenly  voice  within,  she 
is  not  entirely  happy.  Not  till  one  joins  the  house- 
hold of  faith,  not  till  he  becomes  a  member  of  God's 
family,  does  repose  come  to  the  heart.  Not  till 
natural  traits  are  supplemented  by  graces  of  Chris- 
tian character,  do  any  become  the  shining  gems 
which  it  is  their  privilege  to  become,  do  they  display 
the  beautiful  features  and  colours  of  the  resplendent 
cornelian. 

3.  Still  farther,  Cornelius  was  a  man  of  public 
spirit,  of  popular  sympathies.     He  gave,  it  is  said, 


Cornelian  Inquiries  69 

"  much  alms  to  the  people,"  and  we  are  informed 
that  he  was  "  well  reported  of  by  all  the  nation  of  the 
Jews."  In  this  respect  he  was  like  some  of  his 
ancestors,  for  instance,  like  the  Gracchi,  Cornelia's 
two  sons,  to  whom  reference  has  already  been  made. 
At  the  time  that  they  lived,  Italy  was  in  a  deplorable 
condition.  The  country  was  owned  by  a  few  large 
proprietors  who  had  forced  the  smaller  ones  to  sell, 
and  the  vast  estates  were  worked  by  hordes  of  slaves. 

Originally  there  had  been  a  law  limiting  the  pos- 
sessions of  any  single  individual  to  about  330  of  our 
acres,  but  this  law  was  evaded  by  the  rich  getting 
land  in  other  people's  names,  and  after  a  while  it  was 
openly  defied  as  they  recorded  deeds  with  their  own 
signatures.  This  continued  until,  says  Plutarch, 
"  there  were  comparatively  few  freemen  in  all  Italy, 
which  swarmed  with  workhouses  full  of  foreign-born 
slaves."  It  was  an  abuse  similar  to  that  which  exists 
at  present  in  Great  Britain  and  which  causes  the 
Irish  agitation,  and  which  in  these  days  of  growing 
monopolies  is  the  increasing  danger  of  this  country, 
and  which  is  everywhere  developing  the  spirit  of 
socialism  and  anarchy. 

The  two  Cornelian  brothers  set  out  to  rectify  this 
wrong,  and  to  relieve  the  consequent  distress.  Their 
idea  was  to  break  up  the  great  estates  into  small 
farms,  to  revive  the  old  agrarian  law.  Tiberius 
Gracchus  used  this  forceful  illustration :  "  The  savage 
beasts  in  Italy  have  their  particular  dens,  they  have 


yo    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

their  places  of  repose  and  refuge,  but  the  men  who 
bear  arms,  and  expose  their  lives  for  the  safety  of 
their  country,  enjoy  in  the  meantime  nothing  more 
in  it  than  the  air  and  light,  and,  having  no  houses  or 
settlements  of  their  own,  are  constrained  to  wander 
from  place  to  place  with  their  wives  and  children." 
This  was  all  too  true,  and  he  farther  called  attention 
to  the  absurdity  of  generals  urging  soldiers  to  fight 
for  their  altars  and  their  homes,  when  there  was 
neither  altar  nor  home  to  defend,  when  the  poor  men 
in  the  ranks,  says  an  ancient  classical  writer,  "  had 
not  one  foot  of  ground  which  they  could  call  their 
own."  The  Cornelian  brothers  wanted  a  reform, 
wanted  the  country  possessed  not  by  a  few  great 
proprietors  but  by  a  multitude  of  small  farmers. 
When  King  Attalus  died  and  willed  his  treasures  and 
kingdom  to  Rome,  they  proposed  that  the  money 
which  had  been  left  **  should  be  distributed,"  says  the 
historian  just  quoted,  "  amongst  such  poor  citizens 
as  were  to  be  sharers  of  the  pubHc  lands,  for  the 
better  enabling  them  to  proceed  in  stocking  and 
cultivating  their  ground."  This  beneficent  revolu- 
tion, however,  was  fought  by  the  interested  wealthy, 
and  both  brothers  met  with  violent  ends.  They  were 
martyrs  in  a  worthy  cause,  they  died  for  the  people. 
Their  broad  sympathy,  their  interest  in  the  general 
good,  their  humanitarianism,  was  inherited  by  that 
descendant  of  theirs  at  Csesarea,  who  "  gave  much 
alms  to  the  people,"  and  who  endeared  himself  to  a 


Cornelian  Inquiries  71 

whole  "  nation."  Surely  a  person  of  such  a  philan- 
thropic disposition,  so  public-spirited  a  man,  who  in- 
terested himself  in  the  welfare  of  others,  who  had  a 
national  reputation  for  benevolence,  must  have  been 
content.  But  he  was  not,  for  his  repose  was  dis- 
turbed till  under  the  instruction  of  an  apostle  he  be- 
came a  Christian,  receiving  the  baptism  of  the  Spirit 
and  of  water.  Likewise  one  at  present  may  be  gen- 
erous. He  may  be  liberal  in  the  support  of  the 
church.  He  may  be  recognized  as  invaluable  to  the 
community  in  which  he  lives.  He  may  be  alert  to 
all  sociological  problems  which  to-day  are  absorbing 
attention,  till  some  seem  almost  ready  to  substitute 
sociology  for  the  Gospel.  He  may  be  a  great  be- 
hever  in  social  settlements  which  improve  the  envi- 
ronment, and  in  everything  of  that  kind,  which  indi- 
cates a  noble  nature  that  cares  for  the  poor  and 
unfortunate.  More  than  this,  could  he  rise  to  a 
position  where  his  services  would  be  appreciated  by 
a  nation,  as  Cornelius  did,  there  still  would  be  one 
thing  needful,  and  he  would  not  attain  to  perfect 
peace,  till  led  to  become  a  disciple  of  the  Lord. 
Though  he  may  be  concerning  himself  about  others, 
as  the  Cornelian  Gracchi  did  and  as  the  Csesarean 
Cornelius  did,  though  he  may  be  receiving  the  ad- 
miration and  the  applause  of  those  about  him,  though 
he  may  be  an  excellent  and  eminent  citizen,  there  is 
a  voice  which  will  not  be  silenced  till  he  has  found 
favour  with  God  as  well  as  with  man.     Both  divine 


72    The  Modem  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

and  human  responsibilities  need  to  be  recognized. 
The  nature  needs  to  be  regenerated,  the  gem  in  the 
rough  needs  to  be  cut  and  polished,  before  it  attains 
unto  the  lustrous  beauty  of  the  cornelian  that  is 
worthy  to  flash  on  the  breastplate  of  Him  who  is  our 
prophet,  priest  and  king.  Natural  goodness  needs 
to  be  supplemented  by  the  spiritual,  or  if  you  please, 
by  the  spirituelle. 

4.  Once  more,  Cornelius  was  after  a  fashion  a  re- 
ligious man.  He  was  "  devout,"  he  "  prayed."  To 
this  extent  he  was  unlike  one  of  his  ancestors.  We 
have  been  tracing  family  resemblances,  and  now 
comes  a  contrast.  One  of  Rome's  illustrious  dic- 
tators was  Lucius  Cornelius  Sylla,  who  was  brutal  in 
the  extreme.  Our  Cornelius  called  in  his  servants  to 
go  on  a  religious  errand,  and  they  returned  with 
Peter  who  made  known  the  way  of  salvation  to  the 
centurion  "  and  his  kinsmen  and  his  near  friends." 
Near  the  close  of  Cornelius  Sylla's  life,  in  fact,  "  the 
very  day  before  his  end,  it  being  told  him  that  the 
magistrate  Granius  deferred  the  payment  of  a  public 
debt,  in  expectation  of  his  death,  he  sent  for  him  to 
his  house,  and  placing  his  attendants  about  him, 
caused  him  to  be  strangled."  No  such  ghastly  scene 
was  witnessed  in  the  household  of  Cornelias  of 
Caesarea.  Messengers  were  despatched  for  a  certain 
person,  to  be  sure,  but  it  was  that  the  centurion  and 
all  the  rest  might  hear  the  word  of  God.  That  is  to 
say,  unlike  the  wicked  Cornelius  Sylla,  Cornelius  of 


Cornelian  Inquiries  73 

Caesarea  was  a  religious  man.  Nevertheless  there 
was  an  intimation  that  something  more  was  essential* 

What  lacked  he  yet  ?  It  was  a  vital  religious  ex- 
perience which  he  needed,  and  when  he  had  that, 
when  the  fullness  of  the  blessing  came  like  a  refresh- 
ing flood  upon  his  soul,  when  his  heart  was  changed 
and  new  affections  were  kindled,  when  religion  be- 
came to  him  a  living,  thrilling  reality,  and  when  he 
had  identified  himself  with  God's  people,  then  he  was 
satisfied,  and  the  reproving  voice  was  no  longer 
heard.  He  had  been  a  Cornelian  by  inheritance,  but 
he  became  one  of  the  shining-gem  order  in  the  at- 
tainment of  genuine  Christian  character.  One  still 
may  be  religious  in  a  sense,  he  may  have  the  habit 
of  prayer,  he  may  reverently  worship  in  church,  and 
yet  because  of  one  thing  lacking  go  away  sorrowful 
like  him  of  old. 

The  whole  thought,  then,  is  that  one  must  have 
more  than  honourable  success,  more  than  domestic 
felicity,  more  than  a  philanthropic,  and  even  religious 
nature,  if  he  is  going  to  be  such  a  Christian  as  he 
should  be.  He  may  belong  to  the  great  Cornelian 
family  with  certain  distinguishing  and  excellent  traits 
of  character,  and  yet  not  belong  to  the  Christian 
household,  or  at  least  to  the  inner  circle  thereof.  In 
such  exemplary  persons,  however,  the  Gospel  ought 
to  awaken  an  immediate  response,  and  it  does  in 
those  who  have  the  true  Cornelian  spirit.  We  could 
believe  that  if  Peter  had  preached  to  the  others  of 


74    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

that  illustrious  family  of  antiquity,  they  would  have 
accepted  the  truth,  as  did  the  one  whom  we  have 
been  considering.  Indeed  it  is  gratifying  to  read 
from  a  page  of  Gibbon  descriptive  of  the  fourth  cen- 
tury this  sentence :  "  The  Gracchi  embraced  the 
Christian  rehgion."  This  was  more  than  500  years 
after  the  two  eminent  brothers,  the  progenitors  of 
these,  had  died.  It  is  also  pleasant  to  learn  that 
Paula,  the  celebrated  Roman  matron  who  devoted 
her  large  fortune  to  religion,  and  who  was  the  help- 
ful friend  of  Jerome,  the  Scriptural  translator  giving 
us  the  Latin  Vulgate,  descended  from  the  Scipios 
and  the  Gracchi.  Any  to-day  with  recognized  ex- 
cellencies may  become  genuine  Cornelians,  gems  that 
at  last  shall  shine  among  the  Lord's  "  precious  jewels." 
5.  There  is  a  final  word  of  encouragement  for 
any  to  enter  upon  the  distinctively  religious  life,  to 
become  Cornelians  in  the  double  sense  indicated,  as 
belonging  to  the  great  and  noble  family  furnishing 
one  of  its  finest  specimens  in  the  Cornelius  of  the 
Acts,  and  as  belonging  to  a  collection  of  rare  stones, 
none  of  which  shine  more  attractively  than  the  cor- 
nelian. Some  fear  to  start  lest  they  may  not  gain 
the  victory.  Their  foe  does  seem  stronger  than  they, 
but  God  is  on  their  side,  and  by  many  promises  as- 
sures them  of  triumph.  To  give  one  more  Cornelian 
illustration  :  in  the  annals  of  Roman  warfare  as  car- 
ried on  by  Cornelius  Sylla,  sixteen  cohorts  under  one 
of  his  generals  were  facing  fifty  cohorts  of  the  enemy. 


Cornelian  Inquiries  75 

The  Romans  being  less  in  number  and  also  inade- 
quately armed  delayed  the  attack.  They  stood  timid 
and  irresolute,  till,  says  Plutarch,  "  a  gale  of  wind, 
bearing  along  with  it  from  the  neighbouring  meadows 
a  quantity  of  flowers,  scattered  them  down  upon  the 
army,  on  whose  shields  and  helmets  they  settled  and 
arranged  themselves  spontaneously,  so  as  to  give  the 
soldiers,  in  the  eyes  of  the  enemy,  the  appearance  of 
being  crowned  with  chaplets."  Animated  by  this 
beautiful  omen,  they  joined  battle  and  gloriously  won. 
Even  so  when  the  spiritual  foe  seems  to  us  as  fifty 
against  sixteen,  and  when,  poorly  equipped  as  we 
are,  we  hardly  feel  like  venturing  to  go  forward, 
there  come  floating  to  us  from  the  sweet  fields  above 
on  the  breath  of  the  Spirit  such  promises  as  these : 
«'  My  grace  is  sufficient  for  thee,"  "  Be  thou  faithful 
unto  death,  and  I  will  give  thee  the  crown  of  life," 
"  Ye  shall  receive  the  crown  of  glory  that  fadeth  not 
away," — these  precious  promises  from  Beulah  Land 
rest  like  fairest  flowjsrs  upon  our  shields  of  faith  and 
our  breastplates  of  righteousness  and  our  helmets  of 
salvation,  and  they  presage  certain  victory.  Encour- 
aged by  these  sweet  reminders  of  coming  triumph, 
we  can  enter  upon  the  Christian  Kfe  with  confidence 
and  gladness,  singing  as  we  go  : 

"  A  sweet  perfume  upon  the  breeze 
Is  borne  from  ever  vernal  trees. 
And  flowers  that  never  fading  grow 
Where  streams  of  life  forever  flow. 


76    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

0  Beulah  land,  sweet  Beulah  land, 
As  on  thy  highest  mount  I  stand, 

1  look  away  across  the  sea. 

Where  mansions  are  prepared  for  me, 
And  view  the  shining  glory  shore, 
My  heaven,  my  home,  foreverraore." 

Thus  in  the  city  whose  viralls  are  precious  stones,  and 
whose  sixth  foundation  is  sardius,  shall  we  be  sardian 
gems,  beautiful  cornelians  that  shall  sparkle  as  "  the 
stars  for  ever  and  ever,"  and  ourselves  sharing  in  the 
splendour  of  Jerusalem  the  golden  we  can  with  jubi- 
lant feelings  say : 

**  What  radiancy  of  glory. 

What  light  beyond  compare  !  ** 


VI 

Some  Pertinent  Though  Not  Impertinent 

Questions 

IN  the  last  chapter  having  inquired  as  to  the 
great  essential  in  human  life,  in  this  we  pro- 
ceed to  some  more  definite  questions  that  are 
pertinent  though  not  impertinent.  They  were  orig- 
inally addressed  to  Jonah,  but  they  are  capable  of  the 
most  up-to-date  applications.  The  modern  man 
needs  frequently  to  face  the  call  for  personal  action. 
There  are  put  to  him  interrogatories  which  are  meant 
to  line  him  up  to  duty.  He  may  be  restive  some- 
times under  the  appeal  that  comes  close  home,  but 
he  ought  not  to  resent  what  is  undoubtedly  for  his 
good.  He  should  meet  squarely  any  summons  to 
do  his  best. 

The  prophet  of  old  came  to  a  crisis  in  his  career. 
He  had  been  commanded  to  go  and  preach  to  the 
wicked  Ninevites,  but  he  rebelled.  He  heard  a  voice 
calling  him  to  a  specific  duty,  but  he  tried  to  get 
away  from  the  divine  summons.  He  went  in  an  ex- 
actly opposite  direction  from  Nineveh.  He  fled  to 
Joppa  which  was  fifty  miles  from  his  Galilean  home, 
and  at  that  seaport  he  boarded  a  ship  bound  for 

77 


78    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

Tarshish  which  was  probably  in  Spain.  He  paid  his 
passage,  and  set  off  with  some  heathen  sailors  over 
the  Mediterranean.  Thoroughly  exhausted  after  the 
struggle  of  mind  through  which  he  had  gone,  and 
unhappy  in  his  conscious  wrong-doing,  he  retired  to 
a  place  of  quiet,  and  soon  was  fast  asleep.  He  was 
not  awakened  even  by  the  terrific  storm  which  arose, 
and  which  threatened  to  destroy  the  boat.  He  knew 
nothing  of  the  excitement  of  the  mariners,  who  were 
now  praying  and  again  were  throwing  overboard 
whatever  could  be  spared  to  hghten  the  ship.  He 
had  to  be  forcibly  aroused  by  the  captain,  who  urged 
him  to  add  his  prayers  to  those  already  being  of- 
fered. He  was  next  designated  by  lot  to  be  the  one 
on  whose  account  the  tempest  had  been  sent,  and  he 
was  asked  in  rapid  succession  these  questions : 
"What  is  thine  occupation?  and  whence  comest 
thou  ?  what  is  thy  country  ?  and  of  what  people  art 
thou?" 

He  confessed  all,  and  as  the  sea  grew  more  and 
more  tempestuous,  he  saw  no  relief  except  in  his  own 
sacrifice.  But  not  till  the  sailors  had  made  another 
and  last  desperate  effort  to  row  back  to  the  shore 
only  to  see  themselves  more  and  more  at  the  mercy 
of  the  waves,  did  they  consent  to  his  proposition  to 
cast  him  into  the  raging  deep.  He  did  not  experi- 
ence the  comparative  calm  which  followed,  for  he 
was  in  mid  ocean  wrestling  with  the  angry  billows. 
He  was  supernaturally  rescued  according  to  the  Bib- 


Some  Pertinent  Questions  79 

lical  story,  but  he  never  forgot  how  he  felt  when,  to 
use  his  own  words, 

**  The  waters  compassed  me  about,  even  to  the  soul ; 
The  deep  was  round  about  me ; 
The  weeds  were  wrapped  about  my  head. 
I  went  down  to  the  bottoms  of  the  mountains." 

After  his  miraculous  deliverence,  he  hesitated  not 
to  obey  the  Lord,  and  he  did  a  great  work  at  Nine- 
veh. His  preaching  there  produced  a  profound  im- 
pression. The  people  repented  literally  in  sackcloth 
and  ashes.  They  all  put  on  the  garb  of  mourning, 
and  the  city  was  saved  from  destruction.  Though 
Jonah  himself  was  dissatisfied  with  the  result  of  his  la- 
bours, he  received  honourable  mention  long  afterwards 
from  Christ,  and  he  doubtless  now  is  rejoicing  in  a 
crown  many  of  whose  jewels  are  the  setting  of  the 
mission  which  he  so  reluctantly  undertook. 

It  all  grew  out  of  a  storm  in  which  he  nearly 
lost  his  hfe,  and  in  which  there  came  to  him  thick 
and  fast  questions  that  set  him  to  thinking.  Josephus 
describes  a  storm  that  occurred  in  his  day  at  the  same 
point  where  the  prophet  so  nearly  found  a  watery 
grave.  This  is  his  language  :  "  Now  as  these  people 
of  Joppa  were  floating  about  in  this  sea,  in  the  morn- 
ing there  fell  a  violent  wind  upon  them ;  it  is  called 
by  those  that  sail  there  the  Black  North  Wind ;  and 
there  dashed  their  ships  one  against  another,  and 
dashed  some  of  them  against  the  rocks,  and  carried 


8o    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

many  of  them  by  force,  while  they  strove  against  the 
opposite  waves,  into  the  main  sea."  There,  of 
course,  is  the  greatest  consternation,  and  the  utmost 
solemnity,  at  such  a  time. 

So  it  will  be  when  the  ocean  of  life  is  struck  by 
the  great  Black  Wind  from  eternity.  How  would  it 
be  with  us  in  such  a  crisis  ?  Plutarch  tells  us  that 
Julius  Caesar  once  entered  a  boat  in  disguise,  intend- 
ing to  make  his  way  over  a  sea  covered  by  a  vast 
fleet  of  his  enemies.  He  floated  down  a  river  towards 
the  ocean  till  the  salt  waves  therefrom  by  a  strong 
wind  were  forced  up  the  channel  of  the  fresh-water 
stream.  "  The  current  was  beaten  back  with  such  a 
violent  swell  that  the  master  of  the  boat  could  not 
make  good  his  passage,  but  ordered  his  sailors  to 
tack  about  and  return."  In  this  emergency  came 
the  thrilling  command :  "  Go  on,  my  friend,  and  fear 
nothing  ;  you  carry  Caesar."  The  rest  of  the  tale  is 
not  usually  told,  how  the  mariners  for  a  while  did 
bend  anew  to  the  oars  under  the  inspiration  of  so 
august  a  presence,  but  how  he  himself,  as  the  danger 
increased,  meekly  consented  to  a  return.  When  his 
life  was  actually  in  peril,  he  lost  his  bravery. 

Occasionally  there  may  be  one  like  Hume,  who  in 
the  midst  of  the  dark  river,  in  the  sweUing  of  the 
Jordan,  in  the  passage  of  the  classical  Styx,  can  jest 
with  the  imaginary  ferryman  of  the  dead,  bantering 
**  good  Charon  "  for  just  a  little  more  time,  as  the 
infidel  historian  did,  but  most  are  rendered  thought- 


Some  Pertinent  Questions  8i 

ful  at  that  supreme  moment  of  our  earthly  existence. 
So  long  as  they  glide  along  a  smooth  current,  and 
even  when  they  catch  some  of  the  swell  from  eternity, 
they  cry,  "  Go  on,  we  are  not  afraid  of  the  future ; 
this  boat  carries  Caesars,  courageous  spirits."  But  as 
the  waves  mount  higher  and  higher,  and  the  billows 
dash  over  them  with  increasing  force,  and  the  break- 
ers become  deafening  in  their  thunderings,  the  bravest 
are  apt  to  desire  a  return.  They  are  not  quite  ready 
to  pass  out  into  the  mysterious  hereafter,  they  would 
hke  to  tarry  here  a  while  longer,  so  as  to  accomplish 
something  in  the  world,  they  say,  before  going 
hence. 

Now  what  are  some  of  the  questions  which  all 
eventually  will  have  to  face  ?  They  will  be  those 
which  were  directed  to  Jonah,  only  in  a  deeper 
sense. 

I.  First  it  will  be,  "  What  is  thine  occupation?" 
It  is  a  very  important  matter,  when  one  comes  to 
decide  upon  a  vocation.  Mercantile  life  has  its  at- 
tractions. The  legal  profession  has  its  advantages. 
The  healing  art  is  by  no  means  to  be  despised. 
Teaching  furnishes  a  rare  opportunity  for  useful- 
ness. A  literary  career  may  well  tempt  the  most 
ambitious.  The  humbler  employments  even  should 
be  chosen  with  moral  deliberation.  There  is  dignity 
in  common  labour,  ever  since  the  Lord  worked  at 
the  carpenter's  bench.  But  there  is  a  calling  superior 
to  all  these,  and  to  be  followed  in  conjunction  with 


82    The  Modem  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

these,  and  that  is  what  Paul  terms  "  the  high  calHng 
of  God  in  Christ  Jesus."  The  same  apostle  speaks 
of  being  "  called  to  be  saints,"  and  in  the  Epistle 
to  the  Hebrews  we  read  of  being  "  partakers  of  a 
heavenly  calling." 

When  there  bursts  upon  us  the  black  tempest, 
like  the  frightful  Euroclydon  encountered  on  the 
Mediterranean,  in  such  an  ordeal,  what  will  most 
concern  us  will  not  be  the  manual  skill  that  may 
have  been  ours,  nor  the  professional,  nor  the  com- 
mercial success  with  which  we  may  have  met,  but  it 
will  be  the  degree  of  Christian  faithfulness  that  may 
have  characterized  our  life.  All  else  will  dwindle 
into  insignificance.  We  shall  recall  with  alarm  how 
often  like  Jonah  we  ran  away  from  duty.  We  shall 
be  amazed  and  humiliated,  that  we  could  have  been 
interested  so  much  in  the  world  and  so  little  in 
religion.  Once  in  a  while  even  now  there  comes  to 
us  a  revelation  of  our  indifference  to  the  things  of 
God. 

Horace  Bushnell  one  day  awoke  to  a  realization 
of  this  fact.  He  laboured  for  years  for  the  beautiful 
park,  which  has  since  been  made  to  bear  his  name  in 
the  city  of  Hartford,  where  he  was  so  long  a  dis- 
tinguished Congregational  pastor.  He  wrote  a  letter 
containing  this  language, "  This  park  matter  has  been 
a  kind  of  revelation  to  me,  which  I  pray  God  I  may 
never  forget.  Why  should  I  carry  a  park  to  bed 
with  me,  and  work  it  over  in  my  dreams  during  the 


Some  Pertinent  Questions  83 

night,  and  wake  in  it  in  the  morning,  and  yet  be  so 
Httle  exercised  in  the  magnificent  work  of  the  Gospel 
and  the  care  of  souls?"  Does  not  our  business,  or 
our  profession,  or  our  daily  toil  equally  monopolize 
our  attention  ?  We  do  not  ordinarily  seek  first  the 
kingdom.  We  are  apt  to  make  religion  a  secondary- 
consideration  ;  we  are  more  likely  to  be  active  in 
secular  than  in  the  Christian  life.  "  What  is  thine 
occupation  ? "  It  should  be  more  and  more  the 
heavenly,  as  some  day  every  one  will  wish  it  had 
been.  If  any  have  been  lacking  in  attention  to  the 
highest  things  and  in  religious  faithfulness,  they  will 
then  be  conscious  of  having  been  as  poor  Christians 
as  Jonah  was  of  having  been  an  unworthy  prophet, 
and  they  will  be  filled  with  the  deepest  regret. 

2.  "  And  whence  comest  thou  ?  "  was  the  second 
question.  This  primarily  was  an  inquiry  for  the 
prophet's  native  town.  He,  however,  did  not  ap- 
parently answer.  From  such  and  such  a  place  in 
Galilee,  from  Cana  or  Capernaum  or  Nazareth,  but 
he  spoke  of  having  "  fled  from  the  presence  of  the 
Lord."     That  is  whence  he  came. 

Likewise  the  question.  Whence  comest  thou  ?  as 
it  will  be  heard  at  the  hour  of  crisis  will  take  us 
back  to  the  very  beginning  of  things.  There  has 
been  an  attempt  to  get  away  from  the  thought  of 
God  in  the  materialistic  theory  of  man's  origin. 
The  eminent  naturalist,  Huxley,  had  a  good  deal  to 
say  about  "  The   Physical   Basis   of  Life,"  with  an 


84    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

evident  leaning  to  the  doctrine  of  spontaneous 
generation.  The  idea  is  that  one  arrangement  of 
molecules  produces  an  animal,  and  another  disposi- 
tion of  them  a  plant.  So  one  aggregation  of  brain 
atoms  gives  rise  to  the  emotion  of  love,  and  another 
shift  of  them  to  the  feeUng  of  hate.  Everything  has 
a  physical  basis,  and  if  we  only  knew  how  to  put 
dead  matter  together  properly,  and  we  may  yet  learn 
how,  we  could  form  man  out  of  the  dust  of  the  earth, 
even  as  God  is-  said  to  have  done.  We  could  thus 
create  his  soul  itself,  including  intellect,  will  and  con- 
science. "  Whence  comest  thou  ?  "  Out  of  a  cer- 
tain molecular  compound,  replies  the  materialist,  and 
the  one  already  referred  to  expressed  himself  in  this 
wise :  "  With  organic  chemistry,  molecular  physics, 
and  physiology  yet  in  their  infancy,  and  every  day 
making  prodigious  strides,  I  think  it  would  be  the 
height  of  presumption  for  any  man  to  say  that  the 
conditions  under  which  matter  assumes  the  proper- 
ties we  call  vital  may  not  some  day  be  artificially 
brought  together." 

A  physical  basis  may  thus  very  plausibly  be  given 
to  that,  mind  which  has  wrought  such  marvels  in  the 
intellectual  world,  to  that  conscience  which  places 
man  so  far  above  the  beast,  to  that  immortal  spirit 
which  has  aspirations  after  the  infinite,  but  at  the 
crucial  period  of  human  existence  if  not  before,  the 
question, "  Whence  comest  thou  ?  "  will  bring  a  differ- 
ent answer,  even  the  prophet's  :  "  From  the  presence 


Some  Pertinent  Questions  85 

of  the  Lord."  The  words  of  inspiration  will  then  be 
felt  to  be  true,  that  the  dust  shall  return  to  the  earth 
as  it  was,  and  the  spirit  to  God  whence  it  came. 
There  will  be  no  scepticism  when  the  Black  Wind 
and  Tempest  strike  us ;  our  origin  from  God,  and 
our  destination  up  before  the  bar  of  God,  will  be 
very  keenly  realized,  and  will  give  us  pleasure  or 
pain,  according  as  we  may  have  hved. 

3.  "  What  is  thy  country  ?  "  is  the  next  question, 
and  Jonah  replied,  "  I  am  an  Hebrew."  "  So  am  I," 
was  Paul's  proud  claim,  and  he  still  further  gloried 
in  being  "a  Hebrew  of  Hebrews."  With  no  less 
complacency  of  feeling,  many  a  one  used  to  say,  ♦*  I 
am  a  Roman  citizen,"  as  he  thought  of  belonging  to 
the  mightiest  empire  of  antiquity.  The  Englishman 
to-day  rejoices  that  his  ensign,  the  Union  Jack,  is 
recognized  on  every  sea,  and  the  American's  heart 
glows  with  satisfaction  because  the  stars  and  stripes 
are  now  so  widely  known  and  respected. 

Grander  than  all,  however,  is  that  kingdom  of  the 
truth  which  Christ  established,  and  which  so  im- 
pressed the  great  Napoleon  that  he  made  this  memo- 
rable confession  on  the  island  of  St.  Helena  :  "  Alex- 
ander, Caesar,  Charlemagne,  and  myself  founded 
empires.  But  on  what  did  we  rest  the  creations  of 
our  genius  ?  Upon  force.  Jesus  Christ  alone  founded 
His  empire  upon  love;  and  at  this  hour  millions 
would  die  for  Him."  Nay,  an  apostle  says  with 
reference  to  Christians,  "  Our  citizenship  is  in  heaven." 


86    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

Here  is  a  kingdom  which  sweeps  the  earth  below 
and  the  heaven  above.  Nineteen  centuries  ago  a 
Roman  theater  rang  with  applause  when  the  now 
famihar  hne  from  Terence  was  first  heard : 

"  I  am  a  man  ;  nothing  that  affects  man  is  indif- 
ferent to  me." 

More  inspiring  than  this  cosmopolitan  citizenship 
is  one  that  is  also  celestial,  embracing  two  worlds. 
What,  then,  is  thy  country  ?  Is  it  the  better,  is  it 
the  heavenly  ?  Is  it  the  kingdom  of  the  truth,  which 
so  blessedly  links  the  here  and  the  hereafter  ?  More 
satisfactory  than  to  say,  I  am  a  Hebrew,  or  a  Roman, 
or  an  Englishman,  or  an  American,  will  it  be  to  say 
before  the  throne,  I  am  a  Christian. 

If  any  would  bear  that  glad  testimony  at  the  last, 
they  must  seek  the  kingdom  now,  and  seek  it  ear- 
nestly and  supremely.  *•  The  kingdom  of  heaven  suf- 
fereth  violence,"  said  the  Master,  "  and  men  of 
violence  take  it  by  force."  It  is  those  who  venture 
at  what  seem  great  hazards,  it  is  those  who  have  the 
spirit  of  conquest,  it  is  those  who  are  determined  to 
conquer  or  die,  it  is  those  who  say  they  can  but 
perish  if  they  go  and  they  are  resolved  to  try,  it  is 
those  who  gain  the  kingdom.  They  press  in  for  its 
possession.  What  if  they  do  fall?  They  can  rise 
again. 

When  William  of  Normandy  landed  in  England, 
"  as  he  leaped  on  shore,"  says  Hume,  "  he  happened 


Some  Pertinent  Questions  87 

to  stumble  and  fall,  but  had  the  presence  of  mind,  it 
is  said,  to  turn  the  omen  to  his  advantage  by  calling 
aloud  that  he  had  taken  possession  of  the  country." 
He  did  not  let  the  unfortunate  fall  turn  him  back,  but 
he  sprang  to  his  feet  and  pressed  on,  fought  the  cele- 
brated battle  of  Hastings,  and  became  William  the 
Conqueror.  Suetonius  relates  a  similar  incident  of 
JuHus  Caesar :  *'  Happening  to  fall,  upon  stepping 
out  of  the  ship,  he  gave  a  lucky  turn  to  the  omen 
by  exclaiming,  I  hold  thee  fast,  Africa."  The  same 
spirit  is  needed  in  the  religious  hfe,  if  any  would 
come  off  conquerors  and  more  than  conquerors. 
They  must  not  be  discouraged  or  hindered  by  falls. 
They  are  to  recover  themselves  as  soon  as  possible, 
and  march  on  to  the  conquest  of  the  kingdom.  They 
are  to  take  it  by  force,  as  the  Captain  of  their  salva- 
tion has  said.  They  are  to  venture  something  in 
order  to  gain  that  which  follows.  They  are  to  start 
in  the  Christian  life,  though  they  may  stumble  at 
the  very  outset.  They  are  to  persevere,  and  they 
will  gain  the  victory,  and  at  the  end  when  each  is 
asked,  "  What  is  thy  country  ?  "  he  will  be  able  to 
answer  with  a  joyful  confidence,  "  The  kingdom  of 
the  truth  ;  my  citizenship  is  in  heaven." 

4.  Once  more,  the  question  is,  •'  And  of  what 
people  art  thou  ?  "  One  might  live  in  America,  and 
not  be  an  American.  If  he  is  a  foreigner,  he  must 
decide  formally  to  transfer  his  allegiance  from  one 
government  to  another,  he  must  get  his  naturaHza- 


88    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

tion  papers,  he  must  become  a  citizen  according  to 
certain  prescribed,  legal  forms.  In  like  manner  one 
may  live  in  Christendom,  and  not  be  a  Christian. 
He  may  be  an  alien  from  the  commonwealth  of 
Israel,  he  may  be  a  stranger  and  a  foreigner.  He 
should  by  a  definite,  outward  act  change  sovereigns. 
He  should  confess  with  the  mouth  as  well  as  believe 
with  the  heart.  He  should  stand  up,  and,  so  to 
speak,  swear  his  allegiance  to  him  whose  follower  he 
becomes,  and  whose  leadership  and  Lordship  he 
acknowledges. 

In  our  day  a  good  deal  is  being  said  about  "  out- 
side saints,"  and  men  of  the  present  are  inclined  to 
range  themselves  with  these,  whereas  they  should 
commit  themselves  religiously,  they  should  be  found 
inside,  if  they  would  make  the  most  of  their  powers. 
Every  analogy  of  life  establishes  this  as  a  fact.  What 
would  be  thought  of  a  woman  who  would  not  take 
the  name  of  her  husband  ?  Would  it  be  sufficient  for 
her  in  spirit  to  be  a  wife  ?  Nay,  she  must  appear  at 
the  marriage  altar,  and  there  publicly  plight  her 
faith.  Likewise  should  the  disciple  assume  the  name 
of  Christ  by  becoming  a  professed  Christian.  He 
should  meet  the  conditions  of  citizenship  in  heaven, 
and  these  are.  Confess,  and  you  should  be  confessed. 
Deny,  and  you  must  be  denied,  before  the  angels 
of  God. 

The  final  question,  therefore,  recurs,  and  it  will 
come  up  with  renewed  force  as  we  peer  into  the 


Some  Pertinent  Questions  89 

future,  "  Of  what  people  art  thou  ?  "  If  any  belong 
to  the  people  of  God,  they  should  indicate  it  by  an 
open  stand.  They  will  not  regret  it,  when  they  are 
caught  by  the  tempest  raised  by  the  Black  Wind 
from  the  eternal  shore.  No  one  should  be  wiUing  to 
be  like  that  English  king,  who  is  known  in  history, 
not  as  Ethelred  the  Great  or  Good,  but  as  Ethelred 
the  Unready,  because  he  was  never  ready  to  proceed 
against  the  Danes,  his  enemies.  We  are  to  be  ready, 
for  at  such  an  hour  as  we  think  not,  the  Son  of  man 
Cometh.  We  are  to  identify  ourselves  with  God's 
people,  as  we  say  with  the  devout  Ruth,  "  Thy  peo- 
ple shall  be  my  people,  and  thy  God  my  God."  In 
the  swelling  of  the  Jordan,  in  life's  Euroclydon,  we 
will  wish  that  we  had. 


VII 

How  to  Make  the  Most  of  Ourselves 

THE  man  of  to-day  likes  to  do  his  best.  He 
wants  to  make  the  most  of  himself,  and  the 
word,  efficiency,  is  much  on  his  lips.  He 
often  needs  the  stimulus  of  some  inspiring  example. 
He  responds  to  the  appeal  of  some  striking  per- 
sonality. There  is  this  one,  and  there  is  that  one, 
serving  as  a  concrete  ideal.  What  particular  case 
shall  now  be  cited  for  its  encouraging  influence  ?  An 
Old  Testament  writer  points  out  a  definite  one,  when 
he  says,  "  There  is  httle  Benjamin."  If  we  enter 
somewhat  into  detail  here,  we  shall  feel  the  force  of 
an  admirable  career. 

Benjamin  was  one  of  the  sons  of  Jacob,  from  whom 
sprang  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel.  The  patriarch  be- 
lieved that  there  was  to  be  an  important  future  for 
the  child,  and  for  his  posterity,  and  this  hope  was 
reahzed,  for  though  the  epithet  "  Httle "  was  always 
applicable  in  the  literal  sense,  in  achievement  there 
was  abundant  cause  for  satisfaction.  The  descendants 
of  Benjamin  in  Egypt  during  the  long  centuries  of 
sojourn  there  became  a  considerable  number,  and 
yet  at  the  time  of  the  Exodus  they  were  with  one 
exception  the  smallest  of  the  twelve  tribes.     In  the 

90 


How  to  Make  the  Most  of  Ourselves      91 

assignment  of  territory  in  the  promised  land,  Josephus 
says  they  had  the  smallest  allotment.  They,  how- 
ever, had  the  finest  of  warriors,  who  indeed  con- 
stituted the  best  part  of  the  army,  and  who  could,  we 
are  assured,  "  use  both  the  right  hand  and  the  left  in 
sHnging  stones  and  in  shooting  arrows  from  the 
bow."  They  had  the  distinction,  too,  of  furnishing 
the  first  king  of  Israel,  in  Saul,  who  in  his  noble 
youth  disclaimed  the  exalted  honour  of  proffered 
royalty  in  the  immortal  words, "  Am  not  I  a  Ben- 
jamite,  of  the  smallest  of  the  tribes  of  Israel  ?  "  So 
also  this  httle  tribe,  during  the  Babylonian  captivity, 
gave  Queen  Esther  to  Xerxes,  one  of  the  mightiest 
monarchs  of  the  orient,  and  gave  him  his  prime 
minister  in  Mordecai,  who,  says  the  sacred  record, 
was  "  the  son  of  Kish,  a  Benjamite."  At  the  return 
from  exile  to  rebuild  the  waste  places,  the  choice 
remnant  is  indicated  by  a  passage  in  Ezra  which  says, 
"  Then  all  the  men  of  Judah  and  Benjamin  gathered 
themselves  together  unto  Jerusalem."  Little  Ben- 
jamin was  not  one  of  the  lost  ten  tribes,  but  one  of 
the  faithful  two,  standing  alongside  of  proud  Judah 
in  the  restoration.  Coming  down  to  the  next  great 
epoch  in  Jewish  history,  the  chief  of  the  apostles  in 
New  Testament  times  was,  as  he  himself  expressly 
testified,  "  of  the  tribe  of  Benjamin." 

Benjamin  was  small,  small  in  numbers,  it  was  the 
least  of  the  tribes  ;  small  in  territory,  it  occupied  a 
belt  of  land  only  twenty-six  miles  long  by  twelve 


92    The  Modem  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

broad.  But  it  had  a  fiery  energy,  which  had  only  to 
be  chastened  to  accomplish  the  grandest  results. 
Quahty  and  not  quantity  is  most  important.  Elec- 
tricity is  something  so  subtle  as  to  have  escaped 
man's  attention  for  ages,  but  how  potent  its  influence 
in  the  realm  of  nature,  and  now  in  the  world  of 
mechanical  appliances  as  well.  Gravity  is  a  force 
which  has  never  been  seen,  but  which  is  evidenced 
in  the  tremendous  water-power  of  a  Niagara,  and 
which  is  felt  to  the  uttermost  bounds  of  the  universe. 
What  is  true  in  the  natural  and  industrial  sense  is 
true  in  the  intellectual,  in  the  political,  in  the  moral 
sphere. 

We  might  illustrate  indefinitely  along  this  line. 
There  is  little  Greece.  But  from  that  small  country 
came  art,  literature,  culture.  There  is  little  Rome. 
But  from  the  seven  hills  came  law,  jurisprudence,  the 
best  type  of  human  government  known  to  antiquity. 
There  is  little  Palestine.  But  from  that  narrow  strip 
of  land  came  the  religion  of  Christendom.  The 
classic  river  of  Athens  is  insignificant  as  to  volume. 
When  former  President  Felton  of  Harvard  went  to 
see  the  Ilissus,  of  which  he  had  read  so  much  in  his 
Greek,  on  reaching  its  bank,  the  story  is,  he  stooped 
down  and  drank  up  the  whole  stream.  Nevertheless, 
because  of  a  wealth  of  associations,  this  that  is  least 
is  mightier  than  our  Mississippi,  or  even  than  the 
gigantic  Amazon,  neither  of  which  historically  stands 
for  very   much.     There   is   a   mere  youth,  only   a 


How  to  Make  the  Most  of  Ourselves     93 

"stripling,"  as  an  Old  Testament  king  said  con- 
temptuously of  David,  but  what  a  future  he  had  I 
More  splendid  was  it  anciently  than  that  of  his  royal 
detractor.  "There  is  little  Benjamin."  We  are  to 
see  what  conduced  to  the  relative  importance  of  that 
small  tribe.  We  are  to  see  why  it  played  such  an 
important  part  in  the  history  of  the  twelve  tribes ; 
why  it  produced  such  leading  characters  as  Saul  and 
Esther  and  Paul,  king  and  queen  and  apostle ;  why 
it  figured  so  prominently  in  the  military  annals  of 
Israel,  furnishing  the  flower  of  the  army ;  why  it  con- 
tributed so  largely  to  the  distinctively  religious  wel- 
fare of  mankind,  being  identified  with  the  faithful  few 
who  returned  from  Babylon  to  Jerusalem  to  provide 
a  setting,  a  favourable  environment,  for  the  establish- 
ment of  Christianity,  and  giving  one  of  its  number 
to  plant  the  Gospel  more  extensively  than  any  other 
person. 

There  must  have  been  reasons  for  little  Benjamin 
attaining  to  such  a  splendid  eminence.  If  we  can 
discover  the  causes,  the  humblest  to-day  may  become 
great  in  the  best  sense,  may  rise  to  the  enviable  posi- 
tion which  calls  forth  the  divine  commendation,  the 
praise  being  none  the  less  because  delicately  and  in- 
directly expressed.  How,  then,  can  we  make  the 
most  of  our  comparatively  feeble  powers,  of  our  rela- 
tively small  endowments,  of  our  confessedly  single 
talents  ?  The  finite  can  so  act  as  to  make  the  Infinite 
say  approvingly  and  complacently, "  What  a  creditable 


94    The  Modem  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

career !  "     There  are  two  explanations  of  little  Benja- 
min doing  so  well. 

I.  For  one  thing,  Ramah  was  within  the  domain 
of  this  tribe,  and  at  that  place  we  first  hear  of  the 
schools  of  the  prophets.  Schools  !  To  be  sure,  there 
were  no  palatial  buildings  such  as  adorn  the  campus 
of  Yale  or  the  yard  of  Harvard,  but  we  do  read  of 
"  Naioth  in  Ramah,"  and  scholars  tell  us  that  Naioth 
meant  originally  rude  dwellings.  They  were  leafy 
huts,  but  even  with  such  primitive  accommodations 
students  gathered  under  the  Presidency  of  Samuel, 
who  is  represented  "  standing  as  head  over  them." 
There  were  no  such  fine  libraries  as  Oxford  and  Cam- 
bridge can  boast,  but  we  are  informed  in  the  Chron- 
icles of  bookSy  "  in  the  history  of  Samuel  the  seer, 
and  in  the  history  of  Nathan  the  prophet,  and  in  the 
history  of  Gad  the  seer."  The  instructors  had  pre- 
pared certain  volumes.  Older  than  England's  two 
most  celebrated  Universities,  which  date  back  to  the 
twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries,  are  the  Schools  of 
the  Prophets,  which  existed  at  Ramah  in  little  Benja- 
min. In  referring  to  their  establishment  Dean  Stan- 
ley said :  "  This  is  the  first  direct  mention,  the  first 
express  sanction,  not  merely  of  regular  arts  of  in- 
struction and  education,  but  of  regular  societies 
formed  for  that  purpose — of  schools,  of  colleges,  of 
universities.  Long  before  Plato  had  gathered  his 
disciples  round  him  in  the  olive  grove,  or  Zeno  in 
the  Portico,  these  institutions  had  sprung  up  under 


How  to  Make  the  Most  of  Ourselves     95 

Samuel."  In  little  Benjamin's  educational  advan- 
tages, then,  consisted  one  reason  of  its  superiority. 

What  gives  New  England  a  greater  influence  in 
the  Union  than  its  size  would  seem  to  warrant  ?  Its 
colleges  of  world-wide  reputation,  and  its  literary 
men  produced  thereby.  Of  the  Old  Bay  State 
Daniel  Webster  could  say  proudly,  "  There  she  is, 
.  .  .  there  is  her  history,  the  world  knows  it  by 
heart,"  the  statesman  could  say  that  of  her  because 
of  her  unexcelled  institutions  of  learning  which  have 
been  diligently  used,  till  an  investigator  has  found, 
says  Dr.  N.  D.  Hillis  of  Plymouth  Church,  "  that  in 
ninety  years  "  she  had  mentioned  "  in  the  American 
and  English  encyclopaedias  "  "  2,686  authors,  orators, 
philosophers,  and  builders  of  States."  Or,  take  a  single 
community  of  this  commonwealth,  and  we  can  say. 
There  is  intellectual  Northampton.  We  can  say  this 
with  pride,  because  on  the  authority  of  the  one  just 
quoted  this  little  place  "  has  sent  out  114  lawyers, 
112  ministers,  95  physicians,  100  educators,  7  college 
presidents,  30  professors,  24  editors,  6  historians, 
14  authors,  among  whom  are  George  Bancroft,  John 
Lothrop  Motley,  Professor  Whitney,  the  late  J.  G. 
Holland ;  38  officers  of  State,  28  officers  of  the  United 
States,  including  members  of  the  Senate,  and  one 
President." 

Why  does  Congregationalism  command  a  respect, 
which  naturally  would  not  attach  to  it  as  being  one 
of  the  smaller  or  at  least  not  one  of  the  largest  de- 


96    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

nominations  ?  Because  it  founded  Harvard  and  Yale, 
Amherst  and  Williams,  Dartmouth  and  Bowdoin, 
Oberlin  and  Beloit,  and  because  this  is  always  and 
everywhere  its  spirit,  and  because  it  thus  draws  to 
itself  a  support  and  constituency  of  more  than  ordi- 
nary intelligence.  The  Schools  at  Ramah,  and  also 
afterwards  at  Jericho  in  the  territory  of  the  same 
tribe,  doubtless  developed  little  Benjamin,  gave  it 
among  the  tribes  an  intellectual  prominence,  by 
which  like  Saul  physically  it  towered  head  and  shoul- 
ders above  its  fellows ;  so  that  when  Israel  wanted  a 
king  for  the  inauguration  of  a  new  form  of  govern- 
ment, a  Benjamite  was  chosen ;  so  that  when  Christ 
wanted  a  great  leader  for  the  establishing  of  His 
Church,  another  Benjamite  was  selected  for  the  im- 
portant trust. 

In  all  this  we  have  a  suggestion  that  we  should 
make  the  most  of  ourselves  mentally.  Education 
should  not  be  neglected.  School  and  college  are 
rightly  exalted.  There  is  too  much  haste  to  get  into 
business,  or  into  a  profession.  There  is  too  great 
eagerness  to  go  into  society.  Minds  are  thereby 
dwarfed,  not  gaining  the  breadth  necessary  to  the 
highest  efficiency.  To  be  sure,  there  are  self-made 
men  who  make  a  mark  in  the  world.  Andrew  Jack- 
son is  an  example.  When  Harvard  conferred  upon 
him  as  President  of  our  country  the  honourary 
LL.  D.,  to  the  demurrer  of  some  critic  that  he  was 
not  sufficiently  educated  for  such  a  degree,  that  he 


How  to  Make  the  Most  of  Ourselves     97 

could  scarcely  write  his  own  name,  the  bright  retort 
was,  He  at  any  rate  can  make  his  mark,  and  has. 
But  no  one  can  doubt,  and  such  prodigies  usually 
admit  it  themselves,  that  they  would  have  accom- 
plished far  more  with  a  better  intellectual  training. 

Nor  should  any  indulge  the  fancy  that  high  stand- 
ing in  studies  is  to  one's  disadvantage  rather  than 
advantage.  President  Tucker  of  Dartmouth  made 
an  investigation  regarding  the  graduates  of  that  col- 
lege for  two  decades,  1850-70,  to  see  how  many  of 
them  had  found  a  place  in  "  Who's  Who  in  America," 
a  volume  giving  brief  biographies  of  the  "  notable 
men  and  women  of  the  United  States."  He  discov- 
ered in  it  the  names  of  fifty  Dartmouth  graduates  for 
the  twenty  years,  and  out  of  these  forty-one  stood  in 
the  first  half  of  the  class  as  to  scholarship.  From 
this  he  concluded  that  those  who  forge  to  the  front 
in  the  class-room  as  a  rule  do  the  same  in  the  world. 
That  is  why  Benjamin  led  the  van  in  the  march  on- 
ward of  the  twelve  tribes ;  it  beyond  the  rest  had 
educational  facilities,  of  which  it  made  the  most. 
After  the  same  manner  can  any  yet  rise  in  the  scale 
of  being  and  of  accomplishment. 

2.  The  tribe  of  Benjamin  profited  not  only  from 
its  schools,  but  also  from  its  containing  the  sanctuary, 
the  place  of  worship.  At  first  this  was  at  Bethel, 
which  was  well  called  the  house  of  God,  the  gate  of 
heaven,  in  view  of  the  significant  dream  which  Jacob 
there  had  of  a  ladder  reaching  into  the  sky.     With 


98    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

such  associations  it  fittingly  became  a  place  for  the 
religious  gathering  of  the  tribes.  Then  at  Gibeon, 
the  tabernacle  of  wilderness  fame  was  located,  and 
great  congregations  worshipped  there.  Again  at 
Jerusalem  the  temple  was  finally  erected,  and  thither 
was  conveyed  the  tabernacle  of  Gibeon,  that  vener- 
able rehc  of  precious  memory,  and  also,  according  to 
tradition,  the  stone  of  Bethel,  which  had  been  the 
patriarch's  pillow  when  he  had  his  wondrous  vision, 
and  which  is  said  to  be  that  now  encased  under  the 
coronation  chair  whereon  all  Great  Britain's  sov- 
ereigns for  centuries  have  been  crowned,  and  which 
those  female  furies  of  England  to  their  shame  have 
tried  to  blow  up.  Both  Bethel  and  Gibeon  were  ex- 
clusively in  the  territory  of  Benjamin,  and  Jerusalem 
was  at  the  outset,  and  later  was  the  joint  possession 
of  Judah  and  Benjamin.  So  that  the  httle  tribe  was 
highly  favoured  in  containing  the  center  of  worship, 
it  did  not  neglect  religion  any  more  than  education. 
Its  character  was  undoubtedly  moulded  by  the  wor- 
shipping assemblies,  which  met  at  its  stone  of  Bethel, 
at  its  tabernacle  of  Gibeon,  and  at  its  temple  of 
Jerusalem. 

That  nation  to-day,  which  contains  chapel  and 
church  and  cathedral,  most  commands  the  divine  ad- 
miration and  our  own  high  regard.  There  is  little 
Scotland.  Her  crowning  glory  is  confessedly  her 
religious  spirit.  Of  her  family  worship  Robert  Burns 
said  most  charmingly : 


How  to  Make  the  Most  of  Ourselves     99 

*<  From  scenes  like  these  old  Scotia's  grandeur  springs, 
That  makes  her  loved  at  home,  revered  abroad." 

There  is  little  Geneva,  a  city  of  only  12,000  inhab- 
itants  in  the  time  of  Calvin.  But  from  that  small 
place,  with  the  sturdy  Reformer  to  give  it  character, 
came  the  influence  vi^hich  has  been  developed  into 
Presbyterianism,  a  mighty  factor  in  forming  our 
present  Christian  civilization.  There  is  little  Ep- 
worth,  but  from  that  small  village  came  John 
Wesley,  and  Methodism  whose  adherents  are  now 
numbered  by  the  millions.  There  is  little  "  Rhody," 
the  smallest  State  in  the  Union,  but  there  that  man 
of  God  and  of  Providence  (of  Providence  in  a  double 
sense,  for  he  founded  the  city  of  that  name),  there 
Roger  Williams  started  the  great  Baptist  denomina- 
tion in  this  country.  There  is  the  little  Mayflower 
which  landed  the  Pilgrims  at  Plymouth,  but  from  her 
small  cabin  came  Congregationalism.  And  so  it  has 
been  of  every  branch  of  the  Christian  Church,  the 
grand  development  has  been  because  of  the  Spirit  of 
God  each  time  in  what  at  first  was  a  very  humble 
movement.  The  superlative  worth  of  little  Benjamin 
arose  not  alone  from  its  enjoyment  of  educational 
advantages  at  Ramah  and  later  at  Jericho,  but  also 
from  its  sanctuary  privileges  of  which  it  availed  itself 
at  Bethel,  at  Gibeon,  and  at  Jerusalem. 

The  individual  attains  his  highest  development, 
not  at  the  university  of  learning,  but  when  he  also 
takes  a  course  in  God's  university  of  soul  culture. 


100    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

If  a  man  would  come  to  his  best,  he  must  cultivate 
his  faculties  to  the  utmost,  and  he  must  be  a  devout 
worshipper.  Thus  apparently  did  the  smallest  of  the 
tribes  gain  its  preeminence.  It  started  at  a  disad- 
vantage, with  less  than  the  others  in  number,  and 
with  less  of  territory,  but  its  schools  of  the  prophets, 
and  its  carefully  cultivated  devotional  spirit  steadily 
advanced  it  to  the  front,  until  God  Himself  said  with 
a  certain  degree  of  pride  and  gratification,  "  There  is 
little  Benjamin."  He  desires  to  see  us,  who  perhaps 
feel  that  we  have  inferior  abilities,  rise  by  a  similar 
process  of  intellectual  training,  and  of  religious  con- 
secration. The  school  needs  to  be  supplemented  by 
the  church.  Adequate  mental  equipment  will  give 
us  power,  but  the  culmination  is  reached  in  that  spir- 
itual enduement  which  comes  from  being  personally 
religious.  Only  as  we  work  up  this  climacteric  can 
we  make  absolutely  the  most  of  ourselves. 

There  is  a  closing  scene.  In  connection  with  the 
mention  of  little  Benjamin,  an  imposing  procession 
is  described.  "  The  chariots  of  God  are  twenty  thou- 
sand, even  thousands  upon  thousands,"  we  read. 
The  inspired  reporter  continues,  "  Thou  hast  as- 
cended on  high,  Thou  hast  led  thy  captivity  cap- 
tive." There  are  also  enumerated  '•  the  goings  "  o( 
God.  Another  feature  was,  "  The  singers  went  be- 
fore, the  minstrels  followed  after."  It  is  a  grand  tri- 
umphal procession  which  is  being  pictured,  but  the 
proudest  exclamation  of  all  is,  "  There  is  little  Benja- 


How  to  Make  the  Most  of  Ourselves     loi 

min."  It  will  be  worth  while  if,  insignificant  as  we 
are,  we  can  have  God  direct  special  attention  to  us 
as  we  sweep  along  with  the  redeemed  and  sanctified 
host  over  the  streets  of  gold  in  the  New  Jerusalem. 
There  is  one  who  did  what  she  could.  There  is 
another  who  outstripped  others  of  greater  natural 
capabilities.  There  is  a  third  who  was  faithful  over 
a  few  things.  How  sweet  will  be  such  commenda- 
tion !  The  thousands  of  chariots,  the  goings  of  God 
Himself,  His  innumerable  train  of  followers,  the  sing- 
ers and  the  harpers,  will  all  be  noticed  only  to 
heighten  the  effect  of  that  magnificent  climax, 
*•  There  is  little  Benjamin." 

There  is  a  humble  Christian  who  made  the  most 
of  his  finite  powers,  who  did  better  than  others  more 
highly  endowed.  In  the  great  saved  throng,  if  we 
cannot  be  rewarded  for  conspicuous  service,  we  can 
be  those  whose  names  shall  receive  personal  mention 
from  the  lips  of  the  Lord  Himself.  We  can  be 
among  those  whose  faithfulness  in  expanding  the  in- 
tellect, and  in  seeking  spirituality,  shall  at  last  be 
gloriously  and  divinely  recogrlized.  It  will  be  a  sat- 
isfaction indeed  to  be  singled  out  in  that  triumphal 
procession  with  which  human  history  is  to  culminate. 
When  the  marching  columns  swing  round  in  review 
before  the  throne  on  which  will  be  seated  the  Judge 
of  all  the  earth,  shouts  of  hallelujahs  will  ascend,  as 
this  and  that  one  is  named  with  honour,  not  alto- 
gether for  mental  attainment,  however  desirable  that 


102    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

may  be  and  is,  but  more  particularly  for  excellency 
of  character  and  for  achievement  of  religious  results. 
No  encomium  ever  received  will  equal  that  of  the 
heavenly  Potentate,  as  again  and  again  He  says  with 
glow  of  feeling,  "  See  what  he  made  of  /iimsoid  " 


VIII 

Masters  of  the  Situation 

IF  the  modern  man  can  boast  of  anything,  it  is 
of  being  masterful.  Amid  all  difficulties  he 
rightly  feels  that  he  is  a  dominating  force. 
With  a  challenging  statement  less  capable  of  denial 
than  that  of  Cowper's  Alexander  Selkirk,  and  from 
a  serene  elevation,  he  says, 

"  I  am  monarch  of  all  I  survey." 

It  is  an  element  of  strength  for  one  to  be  sure  of 
himself.  Failure  to  attain  not  infrequently  is  due  to 
a  lack  of  confidence.  One  distrusts  his  own  powers. 
He  needs  to  be  imbued  with  the  idea  of  human 
capability.  There  is  no  finer  picture  of  mastery  of 
the  situation  than  that  painted  by  the  writer  of  the 
First  Gospel,  when  he  said,  "  An  angel  of  the  Lord 
descended  from  heaven,  and  came  and  rolled  away 
the  stone,  and  sat  upon  it.''  There  is  a  simple  maj- 
esty to  that  portrayal  of  a  well-known,  divine  exploit. 
We  feel  the  grandeur  of  the  removal  of  the  great 
stone  from  the  mouth  of  the  sepulchre  in  which  the 
Lord  lay,  especially  since  it  bore  the  seal  of  the  for- 
midable Roman  government,  and  since  it  was  closely 

103 


104    '^^^  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

guarded  by  soldiers  representing  the  mightiest  em- 
pire of  antiquity.  The  angel  of  the  Lord  feared  no 
earthly  sovereign,  and  with  superhuman  strength 
rolled  away  the  stone.  The  triumph  was  complete, 
and  particularly  when,  as  we  are  informed,  he  *•  sat 
upon  it,"  indicating  a  conscious  power  and  an  easy 
accomplishment  of  the  task. 

The  very  climax  of  victory  is  reached  by  us  when 
we  can  say  of  some  opposing  force  or  movement, 
that  it  has  been  literally  "  sat  upon."  An  opponent 
is  felt  to  be  practically  annihilated,  when  we  can  use 
regarding  him  that  common  expression.  Our  col- 
loquialism gives  a  correct  representation  of  the  con- 
quering power  of  God  through  the  agents  He  em- 
ploys. We  are  impressed  with  the  mighty  reserves 
of  His  strength,  as  again  and  again  He  is  pictured  in 
a  sitting  posture.  His  absolute  control  of  every  ad- 
verse circumstance  and  His  elevation  above  all  His 
enemies  are  vividly  depicted  in  the  Psalm  which 
says : 

**  He  that  siiteth  in  the  heavens  shall  laugh  : 
The  Lord  shall  have  them  in  derision." 

We  have  there  no  excited  and  nervous  moving  hither 
and  thither  as  if  uncertain  of  the  issue  of  the  con- 
flict, but  there  is  the  very  personification  of  repose 
and  confidence. 

The  Emperor  Constantius,  son  of  Constantine  the 
Great,  tried  to  produce  an  impression  of  greatness  by 


Masters  of  the  Situation  105 

assuming  this  same  attitude.  Farrar  says  of  him, 
"  Nothing  pleased  him  better  than  to  assume  the  aw- 
ful immobihty  of  an  idol,  as  he  sat  in  the  mid-splen- 
dour of  his  court,  or  between  the  gold-embroidered 
banners  on  his  triumphal  chariot.  He  would  not 
move  or  cough,  lest  the  impression  of  his  divinity 
should  be  weakened."  To  be  sure,  in  all  this  he  pre- 
sented a  ridiculous  figure,  because  in  his  case  it  was 
littleness  putting  on  pompous  airs,  posing  as  great- 
ness. Nevertheless  he  saw  what  was  a  fact,  that  the 
sitting  attitude  speaks  of  superiority  and  adds  to  dig- 
nity. A  king  does  not  rise  from  his  throne,  but  he 
remains  seated  at  the  approach  of  his  subjects. 
There  is  a  no  more  sublime  description  of  God  in  the 
whole  Bible  than  that  found  in  the  prophecy  of 
Isaiah,  "  It  is  he  that  sitteth  upon  the  circle  of  the 
earth."  An  impressive  truth,  therefore,  is  contained 
in  the  declaration  of  the  evangelist,  that  the  stone 
was  not  only  rolled  away,  but  was  also  "  sat  upon." 

I.  We  learn,  first,  the  lesson  of  the  resistless  power 
of  God  and  of  the  godlike  over  physical  forces.  The 
angel  of  the  Lord  made  use  of  an  "  earthquake  "  to 
open  the  closed  sepulchre,  and  not  only  did  the 
earth  quake,  but,  we  read, "  the  watchers  did  quake." 
The  almightiness  of  God  appears  in  nothing  else 
perhaps  so  much  as  in  a  convulsive  throe  of  nature. 
The  helplessness  of  man  before  this  manifestation 
of  divine  power  is  indicated  by  the  great  number 
of  lives  that  have  been  lost  in  connection  with  various 


lo6    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

historic  upheavals  on  the  surface  of  our  globe  with 
its  molten  interior.  We  have  a  recent  example  of 
this  in  the  quarter  of  million  of  people  vk^ho  were 
said  to  have  perished  in  Messina  and  vicinity  at  the 
close  of  1908.  Before  such  demonstrations  as  that 
in  San  Francisco  in  1906,  we  are  not  slow  to  admit 
that  God  ♦'  sitteth  upon  the  circle  of  the  earth,"  that 
He  commands  all  the  giant  forces  of  this  terrestrial 
ball  from  center  to  circumference.  In  the  presence 
of  some  seismic  disturbance  like  that  in  1755  at 
Lisbon,  which  shook  the  coast  of  Sweden  and 
caused  the  Alps  to  tremble,  we  are  made  deeply 
sensible  of  human  impotence  and  of  divine  omnip- 
otence. 

A  few  years  ago  in  the  Franconia  Notch  of  New 
Hampshire,  the  power  of  God  was  shown  upon  a 
great  stone.  In  some  long-past  geological  age  a 
mighty  convulsion  had  made  a  great  rent  in  the  side 
of  Flume  Mountain.  This  fissure  was  so  narrow  at 
the  top,  there  long  hung  in  the  opening,  between 
the  gigantic  jaws,  a  huge  boulder  weighing  many 
tons.  No  human  hand  could  spring  it  from  its 
sockets.  But  when  God  in  a  tremendous  storm  by 
an  immense  landslide  put  forth  His  hand,  it  went 
crashing  and  roaring  to  the  bottom.  The  stone,  at 
which  giants  might  have  tugged  in  vain,  and  which 
had  resisted  the  storms  of  centuries,  when  God  really 
laid  hold  of  it,  was  rolled  away,  and  was,  so  to  speak, 
ruthlessly  "  sat  upon."     This  superb  mastery  of  the 


Masters  of  the  Situation  107 

physical  belonged  also  to  the  angel  of  the  Lord,  and 
likewise  belongs  to  us,  who  with  dynamite  blow  up 
a  hell-gate  at  the  entrance  to  a  harbour,  or  who  tunnel 
mountains,  or  who  bore  a  passageway  for  trains 
under  majestic  rivers,  or  who  cut  a  continent  in  two 
with  a  Panama  Canal,  making  us  thus,  says  Scripture, 
"  but  a  little  lower  than  the  angels,"  who  can  shake 
the  solid  foundations  of  the  earth.  Through  an  in- 
spiration breathed  into  us  from  above,  we  are  con- 
quering the  forces  of  nature,  and  sitting  thereon, 
monarchs  of  all  we  survey.  In  view  of  such  splen- 
did achievements,  our  immortality  cannot  very  well 
be  doubted,  that  we  are  destined  to  live  forever.  In 
the  language  of  the  book  of  Job,  "  there  is  a  spirit 
in  man,  and  the  breath  of  the  Almighty  giveth  them 
understanding."  Even  our  intellectual  accomplish- 
ments are  thus  rightly  attributed  to  the  understand- 
ing given  us  from  above,  and  very  significantly  ma- 
terial progress  itself  is  confined  to  lands  having 
knowledge  of  the  Bible.  That  is  why  we  are  sit- 
ting upon,  triumphing  over,  stones  concerning  which 
there  once  was  defeat  because  of  ignorance. 

The  modern  world  is  familiar  with  the  claim  of  the 
ancients  that  they  possessed  here  and  there  stones 
which  had  descended  from  the  sky,  from  a  super- 
natural source,  the  temple  of  Diana,  for  instance,  at 
Ephesus  containing  such  a  venerable  relic,  as  we 
learn  from  the  book  of  the  Acts,  where  we  read  of 
"  the  image  which  fell  down  from  Jupiter."     We  to- 


lo8    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

day  have  scientific  knowledge  of  these  stones  which 
formerly  were  superstitiously  regarded,  and  the  aero^ 
lite,  known  now  to  be  of  natural  origin,  is  eagerly 
watched  as  it  shoots  down  through  the  air,  blazes  its 
way  along,  and  buries  itself  deep  in  the  ground,  and 
is  carried  off  in  triumph  by  the  fortunate  finder  to 
some  college  or  institution  of  learning,  where  it 
brings  a  rich  pecuniary  reward,  and  where  it  is 
analyzed  till  it  discloses  its  constituent  elements.  It 
no  longer  frightens  people  into  an  unenlightened  awe, 
but  it  is  coolly  "  sat  upon  "  by  scholars  and  geologists 
and  meteorologists,  and  it  is  made  to  yield  up  its 
secrets. 

Examples  of  human  conquest  under  the  inspiration 
of  the  Almighty  might  be  multiplied.  Take  the 
photographic  art.  In  1838  Madame  Daguerre  in 
France  consulted  a  medical  celebrity  as  to  her  hus- 
band's mental  soundness.  The  strongest  evidence 
of  his  insanity,  she  said,  was  his  behef  that  he  would 
succeed  in  fixing  one's  shadowy  outline  on  magical 
metallic  plates.  The  distinguished  physician  at  this 
manifest  indication  of  a  deranged  mind  advised  that 
Daguerre  be  quietly  sent  to  a  lunatic  asylum.  Two 
months  later  the  world  was  astonished  to  learn  that 
human  shadows  had  been  actually  caught  and  pre- 
served in  pictures  called  from  the  man  who  first  exe- 
cuted them  daguerreotypes,  and  there  are  few  families 
which  cannot  produce  from  some  hidden  source 
samples    of    this     first    photographic    work.      The 


Masters  of  the  Situation  109 

French  Academy  in  1839  well  crowned  the  sup- 
posed lunatic  of  the  year  before  the  father  of  photog- 
raphy, which  has  seen  such  marvellous  develop- 
ments, till,  according  to  Prof.  Percival  Lowell,  it 
reveals  canals  on  the  planet  Mars,  whose  geometric 
regularity,  and  whose  nice  articulation  at  the  junc- 
tions, prove  the  existence  there  of  a  high  order  of 
intelligent,  constructive  life.  This  fine  art  also 
catches  on  sensitive  plates  impressions  of  hitherto 
undiscovered  worlds  in  the  stellar  spaces,  as  the  very 
skies  are  photographed.  In  that  initial  success  of 
the  early  half  of  the  preceding  century,  another 
difficulty  had  been  overcome,  another  stone  had 
been  rolled  away  and  sat  upon  in  the  progress  of 
humanity. 

Hervey's  discovery  of  the  circulation  of  the  blood 
was  discredited ;  Franklin's  announcement  of  the 
identity  of  lightning  with  electricity  was  derided, 
though  the  outcome  has  been  a  succession  of  mir- 
acles ;  Stevenson's  project  for  travelling  by  steam,  by 
railroad,  was  at  the  outset  hooted  by  the  British 
House  of  Commons ;  the  preliminary  disclosures  as 
to  the  telegraph  and  telephone  and  phonograph  and 
wireless  despatching  were  received  with  incredulous 
shakes  of  the  head  and  with  derisive  comments.  But 
all  these  stones  lying  before  the  door  of  this  and  that 
chamber  of  hidden  mystery  have  been  removed. 
We,  who  a  few  years  ago  pronounced  aerial  naviga- 
tion to  be  a  dream  of  fools,  can  now  ride  with  the 


no    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

lunatics  through  the  air  over  houses  and  trees,  while 
we  glorify  the  inventors  as  the  lords  of  creation,  and 
while  also  we  feel  that  we  were  the  foolish  ones  for 
being  such  doubters.  Man's  conquest  of  what  only 
recently  was  the  exclusive  element  and  domain  of 
the  birds  makes  us  recognize  that  he  is  but  little 
lower  than  the  angels.  We  ought  to  realize  what 
our  capabilities  are,  and  we  ought  to  be  stimulated 
so  to  live  as  not  to  fail  of  the  immortal  destiny  which 
can  be  ours.  It  doth  not  yet  appear,  we  are  taught, 
what  we  shall  be.  There  can  be  through  the  ever 
living  One  an  unfolding  of  our  powers  to  all  eternity. 
We  can  be  among  those  who  become  partakers  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  and  who  taste  the  good  word  of 
God,  and,  says  an  apostle,  "  the  powers  of  the  age  to 
come."  In  order  to  this,  every  temptation  to  wrong, 
every  soHcitation  to  an  irrehgious  life,  should  be  re- 
sisted and  mastered.  The  difficulties  in  the  way  of 
living  the  Christian  life  may  seem  insuperable,  they 
may  loom  up  in  the  pathway  like  great  stones,  but 
the  indomitable  spirit  that  has  overcome  these  along 
natural  lines  should  say  of  spiritual  obstacles  what 
Napoleon  said  of  the  mountains  barring  his  advance 
to  Italy,  *'  There  shall  be  no  Alps,"  and  there  were 
none,  and  shall  be  none  in  the  future  to  such 
courage. 

2.  We  are  to  consider  also  the  moral  triumphs 
which  can  be  and  have  been  won.  The  power  of 
God  and  of  man  working  in  harmony  with  Him  has 


Masters  of  the  Situation  1 1 1 

appeared  in  the  progress  of  the  Gospel,  as  well  as  in 
the  more  material  progress  that  has  so  far  engaged 
our  attention.  William  D.  Howells  the  author,  in 
his  "  Altruria,"  says  that  in  our  national  history  there 
have  been  several  changes  in  the  type  of  man  to 
whom  greatness  has  been  ascribed.  From  the  Revo- 
lution, for  a  considerable  time  onward,  the  statesman 
filled  the  public  eye.  Then  literature  monopolized 
the  attention,  and  Longfellow  and  such  as  he  came 
to  the  front.  The  war  of  the  rebellion  enthroned  the 
soldier,  the  general,  and  only  a  mihtary  man  could 
aspire  to  the  Presidency.  Finally,  he  said,  there  has 
come  the  era  of  fabulous  fortunes,  and  the  millionaire 
is  now  king,  money  rules  the  nation.  There  is  a 
certain  amount  of  truth  in  these  successive  stages, 
that  are  noted,  of  our  national  development,  but  it  is 
to  be  hoped  that  the  type  of  manhood  soon  to  follow 
shall  be  that  in  which  Christian  character  is  dominant. 
Indeed  if  we  take  a  comprehensive  view  of  the  course 
of  human  events,  we  see  that  Howells  was  not  alto- 
gether correct,  we  are  struck  with  the  fact  that  Chris- 
tianity is  already  in  a  large  way  dominating  the 
world. 

There  is  recalled  the  significant  observation  of 
Gibbon,  that  enemy  of  Christianity,  with  reference 
to  the  first  three  centuries  of  our  era  ;  his  memorable 
words  were  these :  "  A  pure  and  humble  religion 
gently  insinuated  itself  into  the  minds  of  men,  grew 
up  in  silence  and  obscurity,  derived  new  vigour  from 


112    The  Modem  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

opposition,  and  finally  erected  the  triumphant  banner 
of  the  cross  on  the  ruins  of  the  Capitol.  Nor,"  he 
continues,  "  was  the  influence  of  Christianity  con- 
fined to  the  period  or  to  the  limits  of  the  Roman 
Empire.  After  a  revolution  of  thirteen  or  fourteen 
centuries,  that  religion  is  still  professed  by  the  na- 
tions of  Europe,  the  most  distinguished  portion  of 
human  kind  in  arts  and  learning,  as  well  as  in  arms. 
By  the  industry  and  zeal  of  the  Europeans  it  has 
been  widely  diffused  to  the  most  distant  shores  of 
Asia  and  Africa ;  and  by  means  of  their  colonies  has 
been  firmly  established  from  Canada  to  Chili,  in  a 
world  unknown  to  the  ancients."  That  is  all  very 
true.  Never  did  2i  friend  more  eloquently  sketch  the 
triumphs  of  Christ,  who  ascended  the  throne  of  an 
empire  declining  to  its  fall,  and  who  sat  victor 
thereon.  Every  obstacle  to  the  establishment  of  His 
principles  in  the  European  States  that  subsequently 
rose,  and  in  the  other  continents  that  are  being 
steadily  Christianized,  has  been  rolled  away,  until 
now  there  is  confessedly  no  such  all-pervasive  in- 
fluence as  that  emanating  from  the  Gospel. 

Whether  the  Apostate  Julian  exclaimed  at  last^ 
"  O  Galilean,  thou  hast  conquered,"  whether  that 
was  his  dying  testimony  or  not,  it  was  the  truth. 
When  this  Emperor  with  some  show  of  success  pro- 
ceeded to  revive  pagan  worship  and  to  dethrone 
Christianity,  it  was  sneerlngly  asked,  **  What  is  the 
Gahlean  carpenter  doing  now  ?  "     The  sufficient  an- 


Masters  of  the  Situation  113 

swer  was,  that  the  Carpenter  of  Nazareth  was  "  mak- 
ing a  coffin,"  the  coffin  of  Julian's  greatness  and  of 
his  system  of  paganism,  and  it  was  even  so.  His 
imperial  majesty  might  have  been  a  ruler  famous  and 
not  infamous  in  history,  had  it  not  been  for  the  stand 
he  took  against  the  rising  power  of  the  Christian  re- 
ligion, before  which  he  went  ignominiously  down. 
The  Carpenter  is  still  making  the  coffins  of  all  op- 
posers  and  of  all  opposition.  Every  stone  in  the 
way  of  the  coming  of  His  kingdom  is  being  sum- 
marily removed. 

Our  subject  has  not  only  a  general  but  also  a  very 
personal  bearing.  There  are  foes  not  only  without 
but  also  within.  Our  own  evil  propensities  should 
be  dealt  with  vigorously,  till  they  are  utterly  subdued, 
and  very  reaHstically  ♦'  sat  upon."  Paul  with  a  similar 
idea  talked  about  keeping  "  the  body  under,"  as  if  one 
should  get  another  down  and  sit  upon  him,  and  he 
spoke  of  mortifymg  the  members^  fairly  pounding  the 
offenders.  Not  that  we  should  go  to  the  extreme 
of  monasticism,  which  was  unnecessarily  severe  with 
the  human.  Jerome,  for  instance,  carried  self-morti- 
fication too  far,  when  he  groaned  over  his  sinfulness 
in  that  he  was  naturally  fond  of  the  classics,  in  our 
judgment  not  a  very  serious  offense.  He  once  felt 
himself  to  be  face  to  face  with  the  Judge  of  all  the 
earth,  who,  to  his  faltering  plea  that  he  was  a  Chris- 
tian, was  made  by  his  distorted  imagination  to 
thunder  out,  "  Thou  liest,  thou  art  a  Ciceronian,  not 


1 14    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

a  Christian ;  for  where  thy  treasure  is,  there  is  thy 
heart."  Then  he  endeavoured  to  dissuade  another 
from  reading  classical  literature,  as  he  said, "  What 
has  Horace  to  do  with  the  Psalter  ?  Virgil  with  the 
Gospels?  Cicero  with  the  Apostles?"  But  the 
great  Monk  outgrew  these  abnormal  views  and  this 
narrowness,  himself  afterwards  quoting  freely  from 
Roman  and  Greek  writers,  while  he  left  to  the  world 
that  literary  monument,  the  Latin  Vulgate,  that 
translation  of  the  Bible  into  the  common  language  in 
his  day  of  the  people. 

There  is  sometimes  yet  a  sort  of  monastic  severity, 
as  something  entirely  innocent  is  condemned  by  a 
strained  and  morbid  conscience.  Abstinence  from 
meat  during  the  Lenten  season,  or  from  a  harmless 
recreation,  or  something  else  of  a  similar  kind,  is 
rigorously  exacted  of  the  Christian.  We,  however, 
need  not  worry  over  imaginary  sins,  when  there  are 
so  many  that  are  real  to  engage  our  most  strenuous 
efforts  for  their  subjugation.  Gregory  of  Nazianzus, 
who  is  reverenced  as  one  of  the  best  of  the  church 
fathers,  saw  the  essential  thing,  when  to  cure  himself 
of  speaking  too  much  and  too  harshly  he  devoted 
one  whole  Lent  to  silence,  that  his  tongue  might 
learn  its  place.  Abstinence  from  speech  might  be 
better  for  us  now  than  refraining  from  this  or  that 
which  may  be  quite  immaterial,  but  which  may  be 
censoriously  judged  by  some.  Hasty  and  incon- 
siderate criticism  is  a  stone  to  be  rolled  away  and  sat 


Masters  of  the  Situation  115 

upon  very  hard,  if  it  is  to  be  entirely  overcome. 
Gregory  himself  had  suffered  and  he  knew  whereof 
he  was  speaking  in  this  respect.  When  even  in  his 
declining  years  he  retired  from  the  activities  to  which 
he  long  had  been  given,  and  when  he  found  enjoy- 
ment in  his  garden  with  its  cooling  water  and  with 
its  delightful  shade,  he  was  charged  by  an  ascetic 
with  living  in  luxury.  His  Hfe  was  simplicity  itself, 
and  yet  had  its  critic. 

We  want  no  monastic  severity,  but  we  do  want  to 
be  severe  with  real  sins,  with  unchristian  judging, 
with  displays  of  temper,  and  with  whatever  else  is 
alien  to  the  mind  of  Christ.  Our  natural  quickness 
to  resent  an  injury,  our  sharpness  of  speech,  or  some 
other  besetting  sin,  may  be  hard  to  get  rid  of,  it  may 
lie  before  us  like  a  great  stone,  but  with  the  aid  of 
the  Master  it  can  be  rolled  away,  and  actually  sat 
upon  in  the  completeness  of  our  victory.  However 
difficult  the  situation,  we  can  be  masters  thereof,  and 
we  can  enter  into  the  spirit  of  Henley,  when  he 
wrote : 

**  Out  of  the  night  that  covers  me, 

Black  as  the  pit  from  pole  to  pole, 
I  thank  whatever  gods  may  be 
For  my  unconquerable  soul. 

}|e  4:  He  ♦  ](e 

"  It  matters  not  how  strait  the  gate, 

How  charged  with  punishments  the  scroll, 
I  am  the  master  of  my  fate  : 
I  am  the  captain  of  my  soul." 


IX 

How  the  Forgotten  Past  May  Contribute 
to  Our  Future  Success 

ACCOMPLISHMENT  is  not  the  achievement 
solely  of  the  present.  Victory  is  never  the 
product  of  the  moment.  The  forgotten  past 
repeatedly  contributes  to  our  future  success.  Seek- 
ing again  a  Scriptural  embodiment  for  our  thought, 
as  we  steadily  have  been  doing,  there  comes  to  mind 
an  incident  in  David's  hfe.  When  he  defeated 
Goliath,  he  drew  the  fallen  giant's  own  sword  from 
its  sheath,  and  with  it  he  cut  off  his  prostrate  enemy's 
head.  He  thereupon  carefully  laid  the  weapon  away 
as  a  kind  of  sacred  trophy.  He  seems  afterwards  to 
have  forgotten  all  about  it,  and  where  it  was.  But 
there  came  a  crisis  in  his  hfe,  when  it  unexpectedly 
came  forth  to  his  help. 

He  was  fleeing  from  King  Saul,  who  had  deter- 
mined upon  his  death.  He  fled  from  the  enraged 
monarch  in  such  haste  that  there  was  no  time  to  get 
any  armour.  He  was  absolutely  defenseless.  In  his 
flight  he  arrived  at  Nob  so  hungry  that  the  priest 
there  was  induced  to  give  him  some  of  the  holy 
shew-bread.  With  his  appetite  satisfied  he  next  in- 
quired of  the  friendly  priest  if  there  was  not  lying 

ii6 


The  Forgotten  Past  117 

about  an  unused  weapon  which  he  might  have,  and 
the  reply  was  that  there  was  nothing  except  Gohath's 
sword,  which  the  refugee  himself  had  in  the  past 
taken  from  the  giant,  and  which  was  kept  sacredly 
wrapped  up  as  a  precious  memorial  of  a  signal  tri- 
umph. That  information  brought  from  David  the 
well-known  words,  "  There  is  none  like  that ;  give  it 
me."  He  had  forgotten  all  about  the  weapon  having 
been  laid  up,  and  he  certainly  had  never  expected  to 
use  it  again,  but  here  in  an  emergency  it,  so  to  speak, 
sprang  to  his  need  from  its  scabbard  behind  the  ephod 
where  it  had  long  lain.  That  is  just  the  thing,  said 
the  warrior,  as  if  in  recogniton  of  an  old  friend.  In 
every  conquest  of  ours  there  is  laid  up  that  which 
may  for  a  while  sink  out  of  memory,  but  which 
at  some  time  or  another  serves  our  purpose  again, 
coming  in  unexpectedly  to  fortify  us  when  we  are 
in  the  midst  of  peril.  So  that  each  triumph  helps  us 
sooner  or  later  some  other  to  win. 

I.  First,  this  truth  applies  along  natural  lines. 
The  Northmen,  for  instance,  would  never  have 
spread  the  fame  of  their  name  so  widely  had  they 
not  long  inured  themselves  to  the  hardships  of  the 
sea.  Steadily  they  built  up  their  naval  power,  ven- 
turing farther  and  farther  over  the  ocean  wilds,  each 
voyage  helping  them  in  another  of  wider  sweep. 
And  therefore  more  than  a  thousand  years  ago 
Charlemagne,  looking  out  over  the  blue  Mediter- 
ranean and  seeing  their  galleys  gliding  over  its  sur- 


1 18    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

face,  is  said  to  have  wept,  because  he  saw  in  these 
alien  but  enterprising  people  coming  from  afar  a 
spirit  of  conquest,  which  was  ominous  for  his  de- 
scendants. And  he  was  right  in  his  forecast  of  the 
future  from  what  he  saw  in  his  day.  Those  sea 
kings,  or  Northmen,  did  afterwards  establish  them- 
selves in  the  realm  of  his  successors,  in  northern 
France  which  accordingly  was  named  Normandy. 
Our  proud  English  ancestors  were  compelled  to  pass 
under  their  yoke.  Canute,  who  sat  on  the  beach  at 
Southampton  and  pretended  to  order  back  the  rising 
tide,  was  a  Danish  before  he  was  an  English  king. 
He  sat  conqueror  of  England  if  not  of  the  Ocean. 

Then  there  was  the  Norman  Conquest  nearly  a 
century  later,  when  the  celebrated  battle  of  Hastings 
was  fought.  Who  gained  that  victory  over  the  Eng- 
lish? William  of  Normandy,  whose  ancestor  was 
Rollo,  the  sea  king  who  came  from  the  same  north 
country.  These  people  likewise  discovered  America 
500  years  before  Columbus  did.  Why  all  this  splen- 
did history  ?  Because  each  victory  was  followed  up 
by  another,  each  advantage  gained  stimulated  to  new 
effort.  The  whole  was  the  result  of  a  steadily  cumu- 
lative process.  The  sword,  with  which  one  giant's 
head  was  severed,  though  laid  aside  it  may  be  for  a 
while,  came  into  play  for  the  overcoming  of  another 
Goliath.  There  was  a  subtle,  though  sometimes 
unrecognized,  connection  between  each  brilliant 
achievement  and  the  humbler  triumphs  of  the  past. 


The  Forgotten  Past  1 19 

Every  voyager,  availing  himself  of  the  knowledge 
and  experience  of  his  predecessor,  must  have  said 
for  substance,  "  There  is  nothing  like  that,"  while  he 
swept  out  beyond  the  point  already  reached. 

Take  again  nature  laying  up  its  coal  formations. 
The  rank  vegetation  that  once  luxuriated  over 
swampy  continents  was  practically  forgotten.  It  lay 
buried  beneath  the  accumulation  of  ages,  but  in  the 
economy  of  the  universe  there  came  a  period  when 
fuel  seemed  likely  to  fail  unless  reserves  were  tapped. 
Unnumbered  forests  had  been  felled,  the  wood  supply 
was  becoming  less  and  less,  while  with  railroads  and 
blast  furnaces  and  immense  factories  in  operation  the 
demands  were  becoming  enormously  larger.  As  the 
need  became  increasingly  urgent,  suddenly  there  was 
revealed  the  hidden  coal  that  centuries  ago  had  been 
stored  up,  and  the  world  cried,  "  There  is  none  like 
that,  give  it  me."  Thereupon  a  mighty  impetus  was 
given  to  the  progress  of  mankind  in  the  development 
of  material  resources,  which  place  this  age  far  in  ad- 
vance of  all  the  ages  that  have  preceded. 

The  same  principle  operates  in  the  growth  of  the 
physical  man.  A  youth  resolves  to  refrain  from  all 
sinful  and  even  merely  hurtful  excesses.  He  ad- 
mires young  Hercules,  who  as  a  child  falling  asleep 
was  awaked  by  two  serpents,  which,  according  to 
the  classical  story,  glided  into  the  room,  "  twisted 
their  long  coils  round  the  cradle,  and  peered  upon 
him  with  their  cold,  glassy  eyes,"  while  he  grasped 


1 20    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

the  hissing  creatures  by  their  necks  and  choked  them 
to  death.  The  young  person  to-day,  who  wishes  to 
become  a  Hercules  in  strength  of  character  and  in 
power  of  achievement,  destroys  at  once  that  which 
at  last  biteth  hke  a  serpent  and  stingeth  Hke  an 
adder.  He  avoids  every  harmful  bodily  indulgence 
whereby  disease  is  fastened  upon  more  than  one  who 
goes  into  a  mysterious  decline,  and  who  early  falls  a 
victim  of  his  own  sinful  folly.  Let  one  from  the  be- 
ginning  keep  absolutely  free  from  the  vices  indicated, 
and  from  others  that  are  similar,  and  he  finds  himself 
better  equipped  to  fight  life's  battles.  He  may  be 
brought  down  with  sickness,  but  the  doctor  says  that 
he  has  a  good  constitution  which  he  can  call  to  his 
help,  and  he  responds,  *'  Sure  enough,  there  is  noth- 
ing like  that,"  and  by  the  aid  of  an  unimpaired 
physical  organism  he  rallies  and  recovers,  when 
another  debilitated  by  habits  which  are  too  common 
goes  down. 

Or,  he  sees  a  fine  opening  for  business,  if  only  he 
had  anything  to  invest.  Has  he  accumulated  the 
necessary  funds  ?  He  looks  over  his  bank  account, 
the  savings  of  years,  and  yet  only  the  equivalent  of 
what  others  have  wasted  on  foolish  indulgences,  and 
with  a  great  leap  of  heart  he  says,  "  It  is  sufficient, 
there  is  none  like  that,  give  it  me."  He  thus  be- 
comes a  man  of  means  and  of  influence  and  of  char- 
acter, while  others  fritter  away  all  these.  No  victory 
over  sin  and  self  is  lost,  there  is  invariably  laid  up  a 


The  Forgotten  Past  121 

Goliath's  sword,  which  may  temporarily  pass  out  of 
mind,  but  which  in  time  of  need  proves  a  most  useful 
weapon.  Every  sin  against  the  body  is  so  much 
spiritual  impairment  also,  and  every  conquest  over 
what  Paul  calls  the  flesh  brings  a  fresh  increment  of 
power  for  other  conflicts  that  are  sure  to  follow.'^ 

2.  A  second  apphcation  of  the  truth  under  con- 
sideration may  be  made  to  the  intellectual  life.  The 
sentiment  of  the  young  should  ever  be,  We  ought  to 
do  our  best  along  mental  lines,  and  we  will  seek  the 
best  equipment  possible  in  this  respect,  with  the  as- 
surance that  the  improvement  of  present  opportu- 
nities will  not  be  lost,  however  bHnd  we  may  be  now 
to  the  future  availabiUty  of  the  knowledge  and  dis- 
cipline received.  There  is  sometimes  an  outcry  at 
the  uselessness  of  studies  that  are  disliked.  They 
will  never  be  of  any  practical  value,  we  say.  We 
carry  this  rebellious  spirit  even  into  college,  where 
we  ought  to  know  better.  We  will  burn  "  Conic 
Sections,"  or  we  will  bury  Greek  to  show  the  con- 
tempt in  which  we  hold  the  mastering  of  this  lan- 
guage. But  not  infrequently  what  is  acquired  as 
part  of  a  regular  curriculum  or  in  the  course  of  the 
ordinary  pursuit  of  knowledge,  does  come  into  unex- 
pected and  very  practical  use. 

Prescott  on  hearing  Ticknor  give  some  lectures  on 
Spanish  Hterature  was  thereby  influenced  to  study 
the  Spanish  tongue.  The  fruitful  result  of  this  he 
did  not  anticipate  at  the  time,  but  he  was  thus  intro- 


122    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

duced  to  historic  researches,  which  led  up  to  the 
production  of  his  memorable  works,  "  Ferdinand  and 
Isabella,"  "  The  Conquest  of  Mexico,"  and  "  Philip 
the  Second."  When  he  wished  to  satisfy  himself  on 
some  controverted  point  in  history,  how  gladly  he 
must  have  said.  Here  is  where  my  knowledge  of 
Spanish  gained  as  a  pastime  or  as  a  study  of  youth 
comes  in  to  help  me.  As  he  consulted  the  archives 
of  libraries  in  Spain,  he  would  recall  his  Spanish  with 
the  exultant  remark, «'  There  is  none  like  that ;  give 
it  me,"  while  he  accomplished  what  he  could  not 
have  done  with  his  English  alone.  But  even  if  our 
mental  training  does  not  always  issue  in  anything 
practical,  it  gives  us  a  discipline  which  is  invaluable. 
The  young  person,  who  can  hold  himself  firmly  to  a 
distasteful  study  till  he  masters  the  same,  who  is  de- 
termined to  stand  high  or  at  least  creditably  in  his 
school,  acquires  a  trait  which  will  put  him  well  to 
the  front  in  the  general  world.  Caesar  in  crossing 
the  Alps  and  in  passing  a  small  village  of  barbarians 
remarked,  "  For  my  part,  I  would  rather  be  the  first 
man  among  these  fellows  than  to  be  second  in 
Rome,"  and  it  was  because  he  did  become  first  in 
Gaul  that  he  was  enabled  subsequently  to  take  the 
same  position  in  the  imperial  city  on  the  Tiber, 
whence  he  ruled  the  whole  Roman  Empire. 

There  is  rarely  any  such  thing  as  genius  in  the 
common  understanding  of  that  term,  for  genius  gen- 
erally is  only  hard  labour,  it  is,  as  Edison  has  said, 


The  Forgotten  Past  1 23 

ninety-nine  per  cent,  perspiration  and  only  one  per 
cent,  inspiration,  it  is  indomitable  perseverance,  mak- 
ing each  victory  count  for  another,  utiHzing  past 
achievements  for  future  triumphs.  Daniel  Webster 
himself,  whose  fine  periods  are  often  thought  of  as 
purely  spontaneous  and  extemporaneous,  elaborated 
them  with  great  care,  and  wrote  them  out,  or  laid 
them  up  in  memory,  for  use  when  they  could  be 
worked  into  one  of  his  magnificent  orations  with  ap- 
propriateness. That  glowing  sentence,  which  we 
have  all  admired,  about  England's  drum-beat  follow- 
ing the  sun  around  the  globe,  this  was  studied  and 
pruned  till  it  assumed  its  present  perfect  shape. 

Noah  Webster,  who  brought  out  his  ♦'  American 
Dictionary  of  the  English  Language,"  laboured  for 
twenty  years  before  he  saw  it  completed.  Naturally 
he  trembled  with  excitement,  on  his  own  confession, 
when  what  has  formed  the  groundwork  of  every 
Webster  issued  since  was  finished,  when  he  wrote  the 
last  word.  How  did  he  build  up  that  massive  book  ? 
Word  by  word,  making  use  of  each  bit  of  informa- 
tion gained  to  carry  the  work  forward  to  completion. 

The  Elder  Pliny,  who  perished  in  that  eruption  of 
Vesuvius  which  buried  Pompeii  and  Herculaneum  in 
79  A.  D.,  who  became  a  great  naturalist,  and  who  was 
a  voluminous  writer,  succeeded  only  by  the  utmost 
diligence.  He  was  so  industrious  that  at  his  meals 
he  had  a  book  read  to  him,  and  when  one  day  a 
friend    stopped  the  reader,  who   inadvertently   had 


124    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

mispronounced  a  word,  and  who  was  asked  to  correct 
the  same,  Pliny  asked  the  person  interrupting, ''  Did 
you  not  understand  the  word  ?  "  When  the  reply 
was  in  the  affirmative,  the  reproof  was,  "  Why  then 
did  you  stop  him  ?  We  have  lost  more  than  ten 
lines  by  this  interruption."  Pliny's  genius  was  only 
a  most  diligent  use  of  time. 

Agassiz  in  our  day  rose  to  fame  by  the  same  ap- 
plication, step  by  step  gaining  his  scientific  lore.  In 
proof  of  this  we  need  only  cite  his  conduct  at  a  cer- 
tain time  when  he  could  not  use  his  eyes,  which  had 
been  weakened  by  his  unremitting  studies.  He  had 
to  remain  in  a  darkened  room,  but  he  continued  his 
work  upon  fossils  by  the  use  of  his  hands,  and  when 
his  fingers  lost  their  sensitiveness,  he  applied  his 
tongue  so  as  to  determine  all  the  lines  that  were  so 
delicate. 

So  that  the  youth  in  school,  and  the  man  in  business, 
and  every  one  in  his  work  needs  to  learn  that  applica- 
tion is  what  counts.  Every  time  we  cut  off  a  giant's 
head  we  lay  up  a  Goliath's  sword,  which  temporarily 
may  be  a  forgotten  weapon,  but  of  which  we  will 
some  day  say,  ♦'  There  is  none  like  that ;  give  it  me." 
We  should  value  the  strength  laid  up  in  the  mastery 
of  every  task  as  it  comes  to  hand.  For  the  time 
being  we  may  not  seem  to  be  accomplishing  any- 
thing, while  yet  we  are.  It  is  a  suggestive  picture 
which  Mary  Lamb  gives  of  her  literary  brother 
Charles.     She  says  that  they  both  wrote  at  the  same 


The  Forgotten  Past  125 

table,  and  she  represents  him  "  groaning  all  the  while 
and  saying  he  can  make  nothing  of  it,  which  he  al- 
ways says  till  he  has  finished,  and  then  he  finds  out 
he  has  made  something  of  it."  Of  course  he  did,  or 
we  would  not  now  have  his  inimitable  essays  whose 
reading  is  our  delectation.  The  young,  therefore, 
should  make  the  most  of  their  opportunities  for  im- 
proving the  mind,  since  every  mental  acquisition  will 
rise  up  in  the  future  to  bless  them  in  the  greater 
things  they  will  be  enabled  to  accomplish.  God  re- 
quires of  them  a  right  use  of  their  time  and  talents, 
and  they  themselves  will  yet  regret  any  failure  to 
make  the  most  of  their  early  days.  On  the  contrary, 
with  faithfulness  in  youth  they  will  be  able  to  sum- 
mon every  mental  acquirement  to  their  aid  in  making 
a  success  of  life  in  general.  Of  the  tenacity  of  pur- 
pose gained  in  some  intellectual  task,  of  the  knowl- 
edge acquired  that  will  be  serviceable,  of  the  disci- 
pline which  a  stern  application  gave  them,  of  every 
such  acquirement,  they  will  be  able  to  say.  That  is 
just  what  we  have  needed  time  and  again  in  hfe, 
when  God  was  summoning  us  to  do  our  best. 

3.  Once  more,  there  is  a  distinctively  religious 
view  to  be  taken  of  this  matter.  Each  time  we  go 
to  church  as  reverent  hearers  and  worshippers,  there 
is  put  into  our  character  a  new  element  of  strength. 
We  are  unconsciously  fortified  as  against  the  day  of 
temptation  and  trial.  We  cannot  listen  to  the  range 
of  elevated  topics  discussed  in  the  pulpit  from  week 


126    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

to  week  for  a  succession  of  years  without  gaining 
much  that  is  valuable.  Supposing  one  is  found  in 
the  sanctuary  every  Sunday  from  the  age  of  ten  to 
thirty.  That  would  make  twenty  years  of  Sabbaths 
devoted  to  the  culture  of  the  soul,  or  three  full  years, 
or,  counting  out  vacations,  four  school  years,  as 
much  time  as  is  spent  in  college.  A  single  Lord's 
Day  may  seem  to  have  no  perceptible  influence,  its 
lessons  may  be  quite  forgotten,  but  the  sum  total  of 
religious  impressions  received  is  very  great,  for  there 
is  the  training  of  four  collegiate  years  in  God's  uni- 
versity. In  this  way  a  matchless  opportunity  is  af- 
forded for  becoming  acquainted  with  the  Bible,  the 
Book  of  books.  People  do  not  realize  what  they  are 
missing  by  neglecting  this  steady  acquiring  of  Bib- 
lical knowledge.  The  acquisition  of  one  Sunday 
may  not  be  so  very  noticeable,  but  multiply  this  by 
what  can  be  acquired  through  a  conscientious  use  of 
all  the  Sabbaths  in  a  lifetime,  and  there  is  no  calcu- 
lating the  benefit  that  can  be  derived  in  enlarged 
conceptions  of  Scriptural  truth  and  in  a  correspond- 
ing betterment  of  human  lives.  Let  one  use  well 
each  passing  opportunity,  and  the  cumulative  out- 
come will  be  most  gratifying. 

He  can  again  store  his  memory  with  the  divine 
promises  by  learning  a  verse  each  day.  A  friend  of 
mine  had  the  habit  of  memorizing  a  golden  text  of 
Scripture,  while  he  was  dressing  and  making  his 
morning  toilet.     He  was  Hke  Archimedes  the  great 


The  Forgotten  Past  127 

mathematician  of  antiquity,  who  said  he  could  move 
the  world  had  he  a  place  to  rest  his  lever.  When 
he  was  taking  his  bath  and  was  being  anointed  after 
the  fashion  of  his  day,  he  used  to  trace  "  geometrical 
figures,"  "  diagrams  in  the  oil  on  his  body."  In  a 
similar  manner  we  should  be  diligent  in  storing  up 
the  promises  especially  of  Holy  Writ.  The  one  we 
learned  to-day  or  next  Sabbath  may  be  forgotten  for 
a  while,  as  it  lies  unused  in  the  memory,  but  there 
will  come  some  crisis  in  Hfe  when  we  will  need  it, 
and  by  some  providential  association  of  ideas  it  will 
spring  to  our  help  in  the  emergency,  as  Goliath's 
sword,  laid  away  in  its  wrapping,  leaped  from  its 
scabbard  for  David  when  he  was  caught  unarmed, 
and  it  will  then  be  appreciated  as  never  before. 
Such  will  be  the  fact  with  reference  to  every  Scrip- 
tural truth  which  we  may  have  acquired  by  redeem- 
ing well  the  time.  Every  spiritual  acquisition  that 
we  may  make,  every  giant  that  we  may  overcome, 
will  leave  in  our  possession  a  sword,  which  may  be 
forgotten  when  all  is  tranquillity,  but  which  will  be 
our  strong  defense  in  some  dire  extremity.  As 
surely  as  bodily  strength  comes  from  a  continuous 
observance  of  hygienic  laws,  as  certainly  as  mental 
force  is  developed  by  the  usual  educational  processes, 
so  will  Christian  enlargement  follow  systematic  at- 
tention given  to  the  religious. 

The  conclusion   of  the  whole  matter  is,  that  past 
successes  along  every  line  will  avail  us  much  in  the 


128    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

future.  We  can  go  still  farther  and  say,  Our  very 
failures  can  be  made  to  serve  us,  if  only  we  have  the 
grace,  the  happy  faculty,  of  learning  from  our  mis- 
takes.    We  can  say  with  Tennyson : 

**  I  hold  it  truth,  with  him  who  sings 
To  one  clear  harp  in  divers  tones, 
That  men  may  rise  on  stepping-stones 
Of  their  dead  selves  to  higher  things." 


X 

The  Ministry  of  Angels 

«  T^  Y  the  help  of  Almighty  God  "  is  a  truth  of 
■"■^  which  almost  every  man,  however  self-reli- 
-■— ^  ant,  acknowledges  the  need.  But  as  to  one 
phase  of  this  assistance  by  divine  grace,  namely, 
through  ministering  angels,  he  is  not  so  very  clear. 
Practically  he  does  not  count  much  on  any  reinforce- 
ment from  unseen  spiritual  sources  of  this  kind.  To 
be  sure,  he  reads  in  his  Bible  this  question,  "Are 
they  not  all  ministering  spirits,  sent  forth  to  do  serv- 
ice for  the  sake  of  them  that  shall  inherit  salvation  ?  " 
He,  however,  is  inclined  to  relegate  to  the  realm  of 
the  fanciful  the  teaching  that  seems  to  be  implied  in 
the  Scriptural  interrogatory.  Indeed  in  this  matter 
he  often  is  utterly  sceptical. 

I.  Our  discussion  will  first  proceed  from  a  gen- 
eral standpoint.  Formerly,  angels  both  bad  and 
good  were  recognized  as  sustaining  a  close  and  act- 
ive relation  to  this  world.  The  stars  were  thought 
to  be  moved  in  their  orbits  by  them,  and  all  natural 
phenomena  were  attributed  to  the  same  superhuman 
agency.  This  has  led  the  rationalist  to  consider 
them  only  poetical  personifications  of  the  forces  of 
nature.     Nor  was  it  in  the  natural  realm  alone  that 

129 


130    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

they  were  supposed  to  act.  They  were  likewise  be- 
lieved to  be  instrumental  in  shaping  human  history 
and  in  ordering  daily  events,  and  it  depended  upon 
the  sort  of  result  whether  the  moving  spirit  was  bad  or 
good,  although  the  evil  angels  were  more  frequently 
called  demons  or  devils.  Luther  said :  "  Let  no  man 
doubt  when  a  fire  breaks  out  which  consumes  a  vil- 
lage or  a  house,  that  a  little  devil  is  sitting  there 
blowing  the  fire  to  make  it  greater." 

Witchcraft,  which  the  most  intelligent  persons  two 
and  three  centuries  ago  accepted  as  real,  was  this  evil 
angelic  influence.  The  conservative  Dr.  Charles 
Hodge  of  Princeton  has  told  us  that  "  the  most  en- 
lightened men  of  Europe  "  gave  credence  to  it  in  the 
seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries.  Thousands 
were  put  to  the  most  cruel  deaths  because  they  were 
regarded  as  being  in  league  with  evil  spirits  or  bad 
angels.  The  execution  at  Salem,  Massachusetts,  of 
nineteen  persons  on  this  account  will  ever  stand  out 
in  history  as  the  culmination  of  the  long  and  ghastly 
tragedy.  Those  were  times  when  the  very  atmos- 
phere was  peopled  with  spirits,  and  nothing  was  done 
without  their  agency,  and  good  angels  and  bad  were 
everywhere  present.  Their  influence  was  vastly  ex- 
aggerated. God  was  crowded  out  of  the  universe  by 
the  innumerable  divinities  and  demons.  The  former 
were  worshipped,  and  the  latter  were  feared.  Angel- 
worship  and  witchcraft,  both  of  which  the  Bible  con- 
demns, became  prevalent  even  in  the  Church. 


The  Ministry  of  Angels  131 

Then  came  a  mighty  reaction.  The  spirituahstic 
bent  of  mind  was  followed  by  the  materialistic.  We 
are  disposed  to  laugh  at  the  hobgoblins  of  the  past, 
at  Shakespeare's  creation  of  the  witch  Ariel,  which 
he  made 

**  To  run  upon  the  sharp  wind  of  the  north." 

We  are  inclined  to  resolve  everything  into  natural 
force.  We  have  become  very  Sadducees,  saying 
with  them  that  there  is  "  neither  angel,  nor  spirit." 
To  this  position  the  extravagances  and  foUies  of  mod- 
ern Spiritualism  have  assisted  in  driving  our  minds. 
For  one  reason  and  another  we  have  drifted  away 
from  the  doctrine  of  the  Scriptures,  which  teach  us 
that  we  "  wrestle  not  against  flesh  and  blood,"  but 
"  against  the  spiritual  hosts  of  wickedness ; "  not 
against  the  human  but  against  the  superhuman, 
against  hosts  which  march  and  countermarch  in  the 
air  above  us,  making  onslaughts  on  the  soul  from 
time  to  time.  What  are  the  mysterious  and  some- 
times unaccountable  uprisings  of  evil  within  us  but 
suggestions  whispered  to  us  by  malignant  spirits 
about  us,  marshalled  and  led  on  by  him  who  is  called 
by  an  apostle  "  the  prince  of  the  power  of  the  air  "  ? 
We  are  surrounded  by  an  atmosphere,  which  is  a 
vehicle  of  communication,  and  through  this  medium 
would  seem  to  be  communicated  to  us  by  the  prince 
of  the  air  and  his  legions  sinful  thoughts  and  desires. 
Such  certainly  appears  to  be  the  representation  of 


132    The  Modem  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

Holy  Writ,  that  evil  spirits,  bad  angels,  are  all  around 
us  to  tempt  the  soul.  In  this  materialistic  age  it  is 
well  to  get  back  to  Scriptural  ground,  although  this 
does  not  mean  the  extreme  of  two  and  three  centuries 
ago,  when  the  devils  seemed  to  receive  more  atten- 
tion and  to  have  more  power  than  God  Himself. 
Moreover,  while  evil  spirits  thus  approach  us,  good 
angels  Hkewise  come,  with  noble  suggestions.  Why- 
do  holy  aspirations  and  promptings  to  the  right  at 
times  rise  so  strangely  and  as  it  were  unbidden  in 
our  hearts  ?  God  may  have  sent  His  angels  forth  to 
stir  within  us  just  such  feelings,  to  do  precisely  this 
service  for  us  who  are  heirs  of  salvation.  This  is  a 
truth,  which  should  bring  consolation  to  us,  but  with 
our  materialistic  tendency  and  trend  of  thought,  and 
in  the  tremendous  reaction  from  the  angel-worship 
of  some,  we  have  ruled  angels  almost  if  not  alto- 
gether out  of  our  creed.  If  their  agency  occurs  at 
all  to  our  minds,  it  is  with  no  positive  comfort.  We 
are  as  uncertain  as  the  venerable  but  doubting  Dr. 
Archibald  Alexander,  who  in  prayer  is  said  to  have 
used  this  expression,  "  We  thank  Thee,  O  Lord,  for 
the  ministry  of  angels — probably."  Their  blessed 
ministry,  however,  would  seem  to  be  not  only  a 
probability,  but  a  Scriptural  certainty.  We  can  con- 
sistently come  to  the  position  of  Bishop  Phillips 
Brooks,  who  lamented  that  belief  had  faded  away  "  in 
a  universe  all  full  of  unseen  forces."  He  thought 
that  the  absurdities  of  witchcraft  and  the  like  had 


The  Ministry  of  Angels  133 

caused  this.  "  When  men  can  get  rid  of  the  para- 
phernalia of  ghost  stories  and  the  false  supernatural," 
he  once  said,  "  I  do  beheve  that  we  shall  see  a  great 
restoral  of  healthy  behef  in  spiritual  presences,"  and 
\  he  preached  a  sermon  with  the  title,  "  Unseen  Spiri- 
tual Helpers." 

2.  We  will  now  turn  to  various  specific  teachings 
of  Holy  Writ.  Our  appeal  will  be  '•  To  the  law  and 
the  testimony,"  for  we  must  move  carefully  here,  not 
along  the  lines  of  reason,  but  of  inspiration  and  of 
positive  revelation.  Note,  for  instance,  what  Christ's 
experience  was.  When  He  was  tempted  in  the  wil- 
derness among  the  wild  beasts,  when  He  fasted  till 
He  was  weak  and  faint  from  hunger,  when  after  His 
intense  spiritual  conflict  He  realized  the  nervous 
drain  that  had  been  made  upon  every  fiber  of  His 
being,  who  at  that  critical  moment  "  came  and  min- 
istered unto  Him  "  ?  His  mother,  the  tenderly  sym- 
pathetic Mary?  No.  John,  who  had  but  recently 
baptized  Him  for  His  great  work?  No.  Who, 
then  ?  "  Angels,"  says  the  record.  When  at  the 
midnight  hour  He  went  out  to  the  garden  of  Geth- 
semane,  when  He  kneeled  in  prayer  under  the 
shadow  of  the  olive  tree  whose  gray  leaves  glittered 
in  the  moonlight,  when  in  His  agony  there  started 
from  every  pore  of  His  body,  not  the  cold  sweat  of 
approaching  death,  but  the  red  perspiration  of  re- 
deeming blood,  who  appeared  in  the  midst  of  that 
amazing   scene  "  strengthening   Him  "  ?      The   dis- 


134    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

ciples  ?  No,  He  had  left  most  of  them  at  the  en- 
trance to  the  garden,  where  they  were  to  stay  while 
He  went  to  pray  some  distance  beyond.  But  He 
took  with  Him  farther  on  Peter,  James  and  John, 
and  they  must  have  been  with  Him  to  strengthen 
Him  ;  were  they  ?  On  the  contrary,  they  had  fallen 
asleep.  Who  did  go  to  Him  with  sustaining  influ- 
ence ?  "An  angel  from  heaven,"  is  what  we  read 
in  the  sacred  narrative.  In  the  life  of  Christ,  there- 
fore, we  do  have  the  ministry  of  angels.  But  He 
was  God,  is  a  very  natural  demurrer  that  is  entered, 
He  moved  amid  the  celestial  in  a  way  we  do  not. 
The  miraculous  entered  into  His  experience,  and  the 
day  of  miracles,  according  to  the  beHef  of  most,  is 
past.  That  is  granted,  but  the  day  of  angelic  minis- 
tration has  not  gone. 

We  are  taught  by  Paul  in  his  first  epistle  to  the 
Corinthians  that  angels  are  present  when  believers 
are  met  for  worship.  He  exhorted  the  Christian 
women  of  Corinth  to  appear  veiled  in  the  public  as- 
sembly, to  observe  the  proprieties  of  the  time  ;  why  ? 
"  Because  of  the  angels,"  are  his  exact  words.  Hence 
Chrysostom  in  commenting  on  this  says,  "  Knowest 
thou  not  that  thou  standest  with  angels  ?  With  them 
thou  singest,  with  them  thou  praisest ;  and  wilt  thou 
stand  laughing  ?  "  This  distinguished  Greek  preacher 
of  the  fourth  century  urged  proper  decorum  in  the 
house  of  God  on  the  same  ground  that  Paul  of  the 
first    century   urged   it,   namely,    because    the   holy 


The  Ministry  of  Angels  135 

angels  were  present.  Theodoret  and  others  anciently, 
and  Alford  and  others  more  recently,  give  this  same 
interpretation.  Those  bright  beings  from  above  are 
all  about  us  in  a  church  service ;  *'  the  whole  air  is  full 
of  them/'  as  said  the  golden-mouthed  orator  of  old. 

Nor  are  they  with  us  simply  when  we  are  gathered 
together.  The  Master  said,  "  See  that  ye  despise 
not  one  of  these  httle  ones ;  for  I  say  unto  you,  that 
in  heaven  their  angels  do  always  behold  the  face  of 
my  Father."  That  is,  by  these  messengers  they 
have  ready  access  to^  and  they  have  great  influence 
with  God,  and  they  are  not  therefore  to  be  lightly 
esteemed.  The  reference  apparently  is,  not  only  to 
children  literally,  but  to  all  disciples,  who  are  Christ's 
little  ones,  and  the  intimation  here  as  elsewhere 
would  seem  to  be  that  Christians  have  guardian 
angels.  They  guard  possibly  against  accident  and 
danger.  Doddridge  once  dreamed  that  he  had  gone 
to  heaven.  He  was  ushered  into  a  room,  where  soon 
he  noticed  that  depicted  on  the  walls  were  scenes  in 
his  life  from  the  cradle  to  the  grave.  One  picture 
was  that  of  himself  falling  from  a  horse,  and  that  had 
actually  occurred  on  earth.  At  the  time  it  was  a 
complete  mystery  to  him  and  everybody  why  he  was 
not  crushed,  and  how  he  could  have  escaped  with  his 
life.  Now  the  secret  was  disclosed.  The  picture 
showed  an  angel  keeping  the  horse  from  falling  di- 
rectly and  with  full  weight  upon  the  thrown  rider. 
This    may   not   have    been   all   a  dream;   it    could 


136    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

easily  have  represented  a  fact,  for  are  there  not  guard- 
ian angels  ?  Says  the  Psalmist,  "  He  will  give  his 
angels  charge  over  thee." 

They  are  present  to  help  when  we  are  tempted ; 
they  are  with  us  to  strengthen  in  sorrow  and  in  every 
time  of  need.  How  came  we  successfully  to  resist 
such  and  such  a  temptation  ?  We  almost  yielded,  but 
we  did  not ;  why  ?  Because  a  good  angel  whispered 
to  us  a  better  purpose.  Or  in  the  presence  of  death, 
we  were  on  our  knees  in  a  very  agony  of  prayer, 
and  it  seemed  as  if  we  could  not  possibly  drink  the 
cup  pressed  to  our  hps,  but  suddenly  we  felt  recon- 
ciled, and  we "  could  say  with  a  quiet  resignation, 
"  Not  my  will,  but  thine,  be  done."  Whence  came 
this  strength  ?  Exactly  where  Christ's  came  from  : 
"  There  appeared  unto  him  an  angel  from  heaven, 
strengthening  him."  There  is  where  time  and 
again  we  derive  our  help,  from  heavenly  visitants. 

Helen  Hunt  Jackson,  author  of  "  Ramona,"  not 
only  a  novelist  but  a  poetess,  has  said : 

**  Oh,  not  with  any  sound  they  come,  or  sign, 

Which  fleshly  ear  or  eye  can  recognize; 

No  curiosity  can  compass  or  surprise 
The  secret  of  that  intercourse  divine 
Which  God  permits,  ordains,  across  the  line, 

The  changeless  line  which  bars 

Our  earth  from  other  stars. 
But  they  do  come  and  go  continually. 

Our  blessed  angels,  no  less  ours  than  his ; 
******* 


The  Ministry  of  Angels  137 

Whenever  in  some  bitter  grief  we  find, 
All  unawares,  a  deep,  nnysterious  sense 
Of  hidden  comfort  come,  we  know  not  whence  ; 

When  suddenly  we  see,  where  we  were  blind  ; 

Where  we  had  struggled,  are  content,  resigned ; 
Are  strong  where  we  were  weak. 
And  no  more  strive  nor  seek, — 

Then  we  may  know  that  from  the  far  glad  skies, 
To  note  our  need,  the  watchful  God  has  bent, 
And  for  our  instant  help  has  called  and  sent, 

Of  all  our  loving  angels,  the  most  wise 

And  tender  one,  to  point  to  us  where  lies 
The  path  that  will  be  best. 
The  path  of  peace  and  rest." 

The  angels  do  take  a  deep  and  very  personal  interest 
and  part  in  human  struggle  and  victory.  There  is 
joy  in  their  presence,  we  are  taught,  over  one  sinner 
that  repenteth. 

Nor  do  they  sinaply  stand  afar  off  and  applaud 
our  efforts  to  do  better.  They  may  sweep  their 
golden  harps  before  the  throne,  they  may  make 
heaven's  arches  ring  with  their  praise,  but  they  also 
come  down  to  this  globe  of  ours,  and  speak  encour- 
agement to  those  who  are  heirs  of  salvation.  Jacob's 
ladder  still  remains,  with  its  foot  on  earth  and  its  top 
in  the  sky,  "  and  behold  the  angels  of  God  ascending 
and  descending  on  it,"  said  the  matchless  teacher. 
There  is  free  communication  between  the  other  world 
and  this,  and  the  procession  of  radiant  messengers  on 
their  errands  of  mercy  is  never  broken.  There  is  good 
cheer  for  us  here.     In  the  midst  of  temptation,  in 


138    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

the  midst  of  trouble,  in  all  the  trying  emergencies  of 
life,  "  The  angel  of  the  Lord,"  we  are  authoritatively 
assured,  "  encampeth  round  about  them  that  fear 
him,  and  deUvereth  them."  The  angeUc  hosts  encir- 
cle us  round  and  round.  Said  Spenser  long  ago  of 
these  beings,  fairer  than  his  Fairy  Queen : 

**  How  oft  do  they  their  silver  bovvers  leave, 

To  come  to  succour  us  that  succour  want ! 

They  for  us  fight,  they  watch,  and  duly  ward, 
And  their  bright  squadrons  round  about  us  plant ; 
And  all  for  love,  and  nothing  for  reward  ; 
O,  why  should  heavenly  God  to  men  have  such  regard ! " 

In  the  great  Christian  conflict  we  feel  sometimes  as 
if  the  battle  would  go  against  us ;  the  enemy  presses 
us  hard  on  every  side,  and  threatens  to  break  in  upon 
us  at  this  point  and  at  that,  and  we  are  discouraged 
and  disheartened.  We  forget  that  the  angels  are  en- 
camped about  us,  like  line  within  line  of  soldiers 
standing  guard.  What  if  we  do  not  see  them? 
They  are  about  us  all  the  same.  A  clergyman-poet 
of  my  acquaintance  has  written : 

"By  every  troubled  soul  some  angel  stands 
And  stretches  forth  her  gentle,  pitying  hands." 

Milton  himself  said : 

**  Millions  of  spiritual  creatures 
Walk  the  earth,  both  when  we  wake,  and  when  we 
sleep." 

These  are  entirely  Scriptural  conceptions. 


The  Ministry  of  Angels  139 

That  was  an  impressive  Biblical  scene  in  the  career 
of  Elisha.  The  king  of  Syria  had  determined  to 
make  the  prophet  a  prisoner.  He  heard  where  the 
man  of  God  was,  and  in  the  night  when  his  move- 
ments could  not  be  detected,  he  marched  his  army 
to  the  city  where  Elisha  with  his  servant  was  sojourn- 
ing. The  servant  arose  early  in  the  morning,  and 
what  was  his  consternation  to  find  that  they  were 
surrounded  with  a  mighty  host,  with  horses  and 
chariots,  and  in  dismay  he  cried  out,  What  shall  we 
do  ?  The  prophet  perfectly  calm  replied :  "  Fear 
not :  for  they  that  are  with  us  are  more  than  they 
that  are  with  them."  Then  came  the  climax:  "  And 
Elisha  prayed,  and  said,  Lord,  I  pray  thee,  open  his 
eyes,  that  he  may  see.  And  the  Lord  opened  the 
eyes  of  the  young  man ;  and  he  saw ;  and,  behold, 
the  mountain  was  full  of  horses  and  chariots  of  fire 
round  about  Elisha."  If  our  eyes  were  not "  holden," 
if  they  were  opened,  we  doubtless  would  see  our- 
selves  encircled  by  angelic  hosts.  With  our  imperfect 
vision,  with  our  lack  of  spiritual  discernment,  we  do 
not  actually  see  the  flaming  spirits,  we  walk  by  faith 
and  not  by  sight,  but  their  ministrations  are  none  the 
less  real.  Sometimes  we  do  feel  their  subtle  touch, 
and  we  hear  them  in  the  still  small  voice  that  speaks 
to  our  inner  heart. 

A  last  incident  that  will  be  mentioned  is  connected 
with  the  death  of  Lazarus.  He  was,  we  read, "  carried 
away  by  the  angels  into  Abraham's  bosom."     That 


140    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

pictures  a  happy  termination  to  the  righteous  life. 
It  portrays  a  heavenly  escort  through  the  gates  of 
pearl  into  the  streets  of  gold.  It  reminds  us  of  Bun- 
yan's  delightful  imagery,  of  his  Christian  and  Hope- 
ful, who  on  leaving  this  world  were  compassed  about, 
says  the  dreamer,  "  round  on  every  side ;  some  went 
before,  some  behind,  and  some  on  the  right  hand, 
and  some  on  the  left  (as  if  to  guard  them  through 
the  upper  regions),  continually  sounding  as  they 
went,  with  melodious  noise,  in  notes  on  high ;  so 
that  the  very  sight  was  to  them  that  could  behold  it 
as  if  heaven  itself  was  come  down  to  meet  them." 
With  these  celestial  beings  thus  attending  us  through 
life  and  up  to  the  very  last,  we  surely  can  appreciate 
their  service.  They  will  not  usurp  in  our  affections 
the  place  of  the  Father  and  of  the  Son  and  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  but  in  their  subordinate  position,  as 
agents  of  the  divine,  they  will  bring  us  nearer  to  God 
Himself,  and  our  sentiment  will  be, 

**  Angels  to  beckon  me 
Nearer,  my  God,  to  Thee^ 
Nearer  to  Thee." 


XI 

The  Weaving  of  Life's  Web  and  the  En- 
graving of  Character 

THE  greatest  problem  of  all  to  face  is  the 
simple  living  of  the  Christian  life.  In  order 
to  this,  the  average  man  of  to-day  is  too 
much  impressed  with  the  spectacular.  He  is  not  al- 
together like  those  of  the  first  century,  who  wanted 
a  "  Lo,  here,"  and  a  "  Lo,  there,"  and  who  thought 
the  kingdom  was  to  come  "  by  observation,"  whereas 
they  were  divinely  taught  that  it  was  something 
"  within  you,"  in  the  heart.  Shakespeare  does  not 
give  the  best  representation  of  life  when  he  says : 

*' All  the  world's  a  stage, 
And  all  the  men  and  women  merely  players : 
They  have  their  exits  and  their  entrances." 

Says  the  same  dramatist  in  another  place : 

**  A  stage  where  every  man  must  play  a  part." 

But  the  figure  of  the  theatre  is  not  the  best  that  can 
be  used  for  inciting  to  right  living.  One  will  be 
more  encouraged  if  he  can  think  of  himself  not  in 
dramatic  but  in  humbler  aspects.  A  religious  life  is 
not  a  matter  of  "  acting,"  in  the  theatrical  sense,  so 

141 


142    The  Modem  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

much  as  of  weaving  and  of  engraving.  These  are 
Scriptural  metaphors,  and  we  are  to  see  their  fitness 
in  setting  forth  the  facts. 

I.  It  is  Isaiah  who  said,  "  I  have  rolled  up  like  a 
weaver  my  life ;  he  will  cut  me  off  from  the  loom." 
In  Grecian  and  Roman  literature,  in  classical  story, 
three  Fates  were  represented  as  presiding  over  hu- 
man destiny.  One  held  a  distaff  and  spun  the  thread 
of  life,  another  twirled  the  spindle  or  directed  all  the 
movements,  and  the  third  with  shears  cut  off  what 
had  been  woven.  King  Hezekiah  is  made  by  Isaiah 
to  give  a  clearer  and  truer  conception  of  Hfe,  when 
he  compares  it  to  a  web  which  each  weaves  for  him- 
self, rolling  it  up  as  he  proceeds,  while  it  remains 
with  God  to  cut  it  off.  Our  concern  should  be  for 
the  make-up  of  the  web. 

We  are  too  inclined  to  be  indulgent  with  ourselves, 
to  excuse  our  lapses.  We  say,  We  have  such  mani- 
fold infirmities,  so  many  inborn  weaknesses,  that  we 
cannot  veiy  well  help  ourselves.  We  speak  apolo- 
getically of  poor,  frail  human  nature,  and  we  call  it  a 
bundle  of  contradictions.  We  are  too  easy-going  as 
to  the  interweaving  of  evil.  With  Shakespeare  we 
say  rather  nonchalantly : 

**  The  web  of  our  hfe  is  of  a  mingled 
Yarn,  good  and  ill  together." 

The  idea  is  that  vice  is  a  necessary  complement  of 
virtue,  that  our  life  must  be  a  mixture. 


The  Weaving  of  Life's  Web  143 

Scripture,  however,  tells  us  differently.  In  Leviti- 
cus we  read,  *•  Neither  shall  there  come  upon  thee  a 
garment  of  two  kinds  of  stuff  mingled  together."  In 
Deuteronomy  the  command  is,  "  Thou  shalt  not  wear 
a  mingled  stuff,  wool  and  linen  together."  A  strange 
prohibition  is  that,  is  it  not?  What  could  it  have 
meant  ?  It  must  have  had  some  significance  in  the 
pictorial  religion  of  the  Hebrews.  It  was  one  of 
many  Biblical  types  for  the  conveyance  of  truth.  It 
was  an  exterior  representation  of  something  interior. 
The  unmixed  garment  which  was  to  be  worn  pictured 
what  our  moral  robing  should  be,  there  should  be 
unmixedness  of  character.  This  is  only  another  way 
of  saying  that  we  cannot  serve  God  and  Mammon, 
that  saints  should  be  separate  from  sinners,  that 
there  should  be  a  clear  line  of  demarcation  between 
the  two.  In  the  web  of  life  should  be  the  pure  linen, 
and  no  wool,  which  is  of  animal  origin.  There 
should  be  spirituality  unmingled  with  carnaHty  or 
worldliness.  When  Ezekiel  would  draw  a  distinction 
between  the  holy  and  the  profane,  he  says  of  the 
former,  "  They  shall  be  clothed  with  linen  garments ; 
and  no  wool  shall  come  upon  them."  Then  he  adds 
by  way  of  explanation,  "  they  shall  not  gird  them- 
selves with  anything  that  causeth  sweat."  In  the 
sultry  climate  of  the  orient,  woolen  which  caused 
perspiration  became  a  symbol  of  uncleanness,  and 
therefore  was  not  to  be  worn.  The  outer  garment 
was  to  typify  the  inner  life ;  wool  and  linen  were  not 


144    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

to  be  interwoven.  The  web  of  character  was  to  be 
kept  "  unspotted  from  the  world."  That  this  is  the 
truth  conveyed  is  still  more  manifest  from  that  pas- 
sage in  the  Revelation,  where  the  heavenly  attire  of 
the  bride  is  described :  "  And  it  was  given  unto  her," 
says  the  divine  John  of  the  purified  Church,  "  that 
she  should  array  herself  in  fine  Hnen,  bright  and 
pure ;  for  the  fine  linen  is  the  righteous  acts  of  the 
saints." 

Is  our  life  being  woven  as  exclusively  as  it  should 
be  of  righteous  acts,  or  is  there  a  good  deal  of  wool 
in  the  web  ?  Take  the  simple  matter  of  worship  on 
the  Sabbath,  and  there  is  not  apt  to  be  that  single- 
ness of  service  which  ought  to  be.  "  Keep  thy  foot 
when  thou  goest  to  the  house  of  God,"  is  the  Scrip- 
tural direction.  That  is,  we  are  to  give  our  mind  to 
what  we  are  going  to  do.  We  are  to  go  to  the 
Lord's  house  on  His  day  with  some  preparation  of 
heart.  We  are  not  to  go,  if  we  would  get  the  most 
possible  out  of  the  hour,  from  the  reading  of  a  secu- 
lar newspaper,  our  thoughts  being  all  occupied  with 
the  things  of  the  world.  We  are  not  to  go  chafed 
with  the  cares  of  the  household.  We  are  not  to  go 
fretted  with  business.  We  are  not  to  go  in  a  soul- 
sweat  because  of  a  spiritual  investiture  of  wool.  We 
are  to  be  arrayed  in  cool  linen,  in  a  religious  calm- 
ness of  spirit. 

Our  attention  is  too  likely  to  be  distracted  in  the 
very  temple  of  God.     We  sit  in  the  sanctuary  itself 


The  Weaving  of  Life's  Web  145 

and  spin  out  thoughts  of  a  wholly  worldly  nature,  or 
at  any  rate  our  devotions  are  too  much  mingled  with 
the  things  of  the  earth.  On  the  Sabbath  at  least  we 
should  give  our  undivided  attention  to  the  kingdom, 
we  should  seek  it  first  and  supremely.  How  is  it 
with  the  web  we  are  weaving  ?  We  know  that  the 
shuttle  is  moving  very  swiftly,  and  we  ought  to  con- 
sider very  seriously  the  nature  of  the  garment  we 
are  preparing  for  ourselves,  whether  its  warp  and 
woof  are  those  of  the  garment  of  salvation,  of  the 
robe  of  righteousness.  We  may  be  weaving  a  web 
of  *«  mingled  stuff,  wool  and  linen  together,"  as  the 
inspired  writer  says,  or  our  web  of  life  may  be,  as 
the  great  dramatist  says,  "  of  a  mingled  yarn,  good 
and  ill  together." 

Is  there  this  mingled  yarn,  this  mingled  stuff  in 
our  life  ?    A  poet  has  said : 

"  All  day,  all  night,  I  can  hear  the  jar 
Of  the  loom  of  life,  and  near  and  far 
It  thrills  with  its  deep  and  muffled  sound, 
As  tireless  the  wheels  go  always  round. 

"  Busily,  ceaselessly  goes  the  loom, 
In  the  light  of  day  and  midnight  gloom. 
The  wheels  are  turning  early  and  late. 
And  the  woof  is  wound  in  the  warp  of  fate. 

'*  Click,  clack  !  there's  a  thread  of  love  wove  in : 
Click,  clack  !  another  of  wrong  and  sin  ! 
What  a  checkered  thing  this  life  will  be 
When  we  see  it  unrolled  in  eteriity !  " 


146    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

Are  there  in  our  life  these  commingling,  opposing 
elements  ?  Does  our  character  show  such  an  ad- 
mixture of  traits  ?  People  would  cherish  the  Chris- 
tian hope,  while  yet  they  acknowledge  that  they  are 
not  doing  just  right  in  some  respects.  They  are  neg- 
lecting little  duties,  they  are  committing  what  seem 
to  be  trivial  sins.  But  Jude  speaks  of  "hating  even 
the  garment  spotted  by  the  flesh."  We  should  seek 
to  have  upon  us  no  marks  or  stains  even  of  sin.  We 
should  avoid  the  very  appearance  of  evil,  making  our 
life  as  nearly  perfect  as  possible. 

There  are  many  mperfect  places  in  the  web  that 
is  being  rolled  up,  and  that  ultimately  is  to  be  cut 
off.  Here  is  a  sin  of  omission,  and  there  another  of 
commission.  Here  is  a  secret  thought  which  was 
evil,  and  there  is  a  spoken  word  which  ought  to  have 
been  left  unsaid.  None  of  these  is  lost,  being  rolled 
up  in  the  past.  The  record  that  is  unrepented  of 
cannot  be  changed.  Pilate  was  uttering  a  great  and 
melancholy  truth  when  he  said  of  a  requested  alter- 
ation in  the  inscription  over  the  cross,  "  What  I  have 
written  I  have  written."  He  would  have  been  glad 
afterwards  to  have  had  all  of  his  unhappy  connection 
with  the  crucifixion  effaced,  but  there  it  was,  part  of 
his  life  as  a  Roman  governor,  and  history  still  repeats 
in  the  words  of  the  creed, "  suffered  under  Pontius  Pi- 
late." There  is  no  getting  away  from  that  damning 
record.  It  has  survived  through  nineteen  centuries, 
and  eternity  cannot  blot  it  out.     We  think  that  our 


The  Weaving  of  Life's  Web  147 

unforgiven  sins  will  be  forgotten,  do  we?  They 
never  can  be,  they  are  woven  into  the  warp  and  woof 
of  our  character.  Those  of  a  year  or  of  five  years 
ago  may  be  turned  in  out  of  sight,  but  the  web  is  to 
be  cut  off  and  unrolled  some  day.  After  death  is 
the  judgment,  when  there  shall  be  disclosed  "  every 
hidden  thing,  whether  it  be  good  or  whether  it  be 
evil."  The  books  of  human  destiny  are  to  be 
opened,  and  all  that  has  been  written  is  to  be 
read.  We  are  to  be  judged  for  the  deeds  done 
in  the  body.  The  thoughts  and  intents  of  the 
heart  are  to  be  discerned,  and  all  things  are  to  be 
«'  laid  open  before  the  eyes  of  him  with  whom  we 
have  to  do."  The  web  of  our  entire  Hfe  is  to  be  un- 
rolled for  the  inspection  of  the  Judge. 

Such  considerations  should  lead  us  to  endeavour 
to  keep  out  all  admixture  of  wool,  and  to  weave  in 
only  the  pure  linen,  saying  with  a  certain  poetess : 

"I  will  weave  it  fine,  I  will  weave  it  fair; 
And  ah !  how  the  colours  will  glow,  said  she ; 
So  fadeless  and  strong,  I  will  weave  my  web. 
That  perhaps  it  may  live  when  I  am  dead." 

Their  works  do  follow  those  who  die  in  the  Lord, 
who  have  lived  a  good  life,  and  in  view  of  the  judg- 
ment to  come,  of  the  minute  examination  to  be  made 
of  the  warp  and  woof  of  our  whole  life,  we  should  be 
as  intent  upon  working  out  our  salvation  as  Archi- 
nQe4es  was  in  solving  his  mathematical  problem.     He 


148    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

was  so  absorbed  in  this  that  he  did  not  know  when 
the  city  of  his  nativity  was  taken  by  the  Romans. 
When  the  threatening  sword  was  raised  above  his 
head,  he  only  asked  the  soldier,  says  Plutarch,  "  to 
hold  his  hand  a  little  while,  that  he  might  not  leave 
what  he  was  then  at  work  upon  inconclusive  and  im- 
perfect." All  the  same  he  was  cut  off  before  he  had 
finished  his  problem.  We  should  settle  the  question 
of  what  constitutes  right  living  and  of  our  eternal 
destiny  before  we  are  summoned  hence.  We  should 
not  be  in  the  midst  of  that  great  problem,  What  shall 
it  profit  a  man  if  he  gain  the  whole  world  and  lose 
his  soul  ?  We  should  have  been  working  that  out  ^ 
all  through  life,  if  we  would  be  found  at  last  with  the 
wedding  garment  on,  in  that  spiritual  vestment,  in 
that  religious  character,  growing  out  of  years  of  trust 
and  prayer  and  activity.  Then  shall  we  be  among 
those  of  whom  it  is  said,  "  Which  did  not  defile  their 
garments,  and  they  shall  walk  with  me  in  white." 
The  unrolling  of  the  web  of  life  in  that  event  will 
give  us  only  satisfaction,  for  it  will  be  all  that  it 
should  be,  it  will  be  washed  white.  The  loom  will 
stop  running,  because  the  web  will  be  complete,  like 
Christ's  robe,  which,  says  John,  "  was  without  seam, 
woven  from  the  top  throughout."  With  such  a 
glorious  result  attained,  the  movement  of  the  weav- 
er's shuttle  will  cease  naturally,  and  one  will  come  to 
his  end  like  him  of  whom  Dryden  sings  so  charm- 
ingly : 


The  Weaving  of  Life's  Web  149 

**  Till,  like  a  clock  worn  out  with  eating  time, 
The  wheels  of  weary  life  at  last  stood  still." 

Even  though  trying  experiences  may  be  ours,  the 
patterns  woven  need  not  be  dark.  On  the  contrary, 
they  can  even  then  gleam  with  bright  hnes,  provided 
only  that  we  heed  the  divine  summons  :  **  See,  saith 
he,  that  thou  make  all  things  according  to  the  pat- 
tern that  was  showed  thee  in  the  mount."  The 
truthfulness  of  Jean  Ingelow's  lines  will  then  appear : 

"  Your  life  is  one,  and  in  its  warp  and  woof 
There  runs  a  thread  of  gold  that  glitters  fair, 
And  sometimes  in  the  pattern  shows  most  sweet 
Where  there  are  somber  colours." 

2.  We  said  in  the  beginning  that  life  finds  illus- 
tration not  only  in  weaving,  but  also  in  engraving. 
This,  too,  gives  a  different  and  a  more  satisfactory 
representation  of  Christian  hving  than  that  of  any 
dramatic  "  acting "  on  our  miniature  stage.  We 
speak  of  the  shaping  of  character,  which  is  from  a 
Greek  word  meaning  "  to  engrave."  This  brings  in 
the  divine  agency.  Haggai  portrays  God  as  saying 
of  His  servant,  "  and  will  make  thee  as  a  signet." 
Anciently  the  signet  was  of  great  value  and  impor- 
tance. It  often  contained,  with  other  devices  per- 
haps, the  name  of  the  owner.  Instead  of  subscribing 
with  pen  and  ink,  the  custom  used  to  be  to  affix 
one's  seal.  This  instrument  in  a  modified  form  is 
still  employed  in  legal  transactions  and  in  matters  of 


1 50    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

state.  The  Seal  of  the  County,  or  of  the  Common- 
wealth, or  of  the  Country,  is  supposed  to  add  binding 
force  to  the  conveyance  of  property,  or  to  the  procla- 
mation of  a  ruler.  Kings  of  old  had  their  seals,  which 
gave  the  stamp  of  authority  wherever  impressed. 
Private  citizens  even  had  their  signets,  by  which  le- 
gality was  imparted  to  any  document  that  might  be 
stamped. 

What  was  thus  universally  used,  and  not  excep- 
tionally as  now,  meant  a  great  deal  more  than  it  does 
at  present.  It  was  worn  every  day,  suspended  from 
the  neck  or  arm,  or  set  in  a  ring  upon  the  finger. 
The  pledge  asked  of  Judah  in  patriarchal  times  was, 
Give  me  thy  signet  and  thy  cord ;  that  is,  the  seal 
which  he  carried,  and  which  hung  from  his  person 
by  a  cord.  The  proud  trophy  sent  to  Carthage  by 
Hannibal,  after  the  great  victory  of  Cannae,  was  said 
to  have  been  three  bushels  of  rings  gathered  from 
the  Romans  he  had  slain.  He  had  taken  from  the 
dead  bodies  the  precious  signet  rings,  which  adorned 
the  knightly  hands  of  those  who  had  fought  their  last 
battle.  An  Englishman  of  to-day  congratulates  him- 
self upon  being  the  fortunate  possessor  of  the  well- 
authenticated  signet  ring  of  Cheops,  the  builder  of 
the  Great  Pyramid  six  thousand  years  ago.  The  one 
hundred  thousand  men,  who  are  said  to  have  wrought 
for  years  upon  that  prodigious  pile  which  rose  to  the 
height  of  nearly  five  hundred  feet  and  covered  an  area 
of  about  thirteen  acres,  probably  felt  the  full  force  of 


The  Weaving  of  Life's  Web  151 

commands  issued  to  them  under  the  seal  of  that  httle 
finger  ornament. 

The  signet,  therefore,  was  something  which  was 
most  valuable.  It  accordingly  was  made  very  early 
out  of  the  most  costly  stones,  engraved  with  all  the 
skill  of  a  perfected  art  in  this  respect.  Of  the  exceed- 
ingly nice  work  done  upon  the  breastplate  of  Aaron, 
it  is  said  that  the  twelve  precious  stones,  which  ght- 
tered  and  flashed  thereon,  were  engraved  "  like  the 
engravings  of  a  signet."  That  indicates  the  exquisite 
fineness  of  the  workmanship.  On  emerald,  amethyst, 
and  diamond,  and  upon  nine  other  precious  stones 
were  engraved  the  names,  one  by  one,  of  the  twelve 
tribes,  which  the  High  Priest  was  thus  represented 
as  bearing  *'  upon  his  heart,"  when  he  appeared  before 
God. 

Now  the  soul  is  God's  signet.  When  saved.  He 
delights  in  it  as  in  a  precious  stone,  which  has  been 
cut  and  polished.  He  wears  it,  so  to  speak,  upon  His 
person,  upon  His  arm,  upon  His  hand,  or  upon  His 
neck  as  it  Hes  near  His  heart.  Hence  the  significance 
of  the  prayer  in  the  Song  of  Solomon,  "  Set  me  as  a 
seal  upon  thine  heart,  as  a  seal  upon  thine  arm,"  while 
in  the  prophet  Jeremiah  God  speaks  of  one  being  a 
"signet  upon  my  right  hand."  It  is  saved  souls 
which  thus  shine  and  sparkle,  and  it  is  these  which 
constitute  the  Lord's  precious  jewels,  His  "  peculiar 
treasure."  Of  an  ancient  orator,  who  rivalled  De- 
mosthenes in  eloquence,  and  who  surpassed  him  in 


152    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

character,  his  wife  once  spoke  with  special  admira- 
tion. A  visitor,  says  the  historian,  having  "  showed 
her  all  her  rich  ornaments,  made  of  gold  and  set  with 
jewels,  her  wreaths,  necklaces,  and  the  like,"  this  re- 
sponse was  called  forth :  "  For  my  part,  all  my  orna- 
ment is  my  husband,  Phocion."  But  God  antedated 
this  beautiful  thought  when  He  said  of  a  servant  of 
His,  "  and  will  make  thee  as  a  signet." 

Like  the  precious  stone  therein,  the  soul  at  the 
outset  is  found  in  the  rough,  and  it  has  to  be  cut  and 
polished.  Take  a  diamond  of  the  first  water,  which 
looks  so  much  like  a  drop  of  clear  spring  water,  and 
in  the  state  of  nature  it  is  a  comparatively  rough 
pebble.  It  has  to  be  subjected  to  the  lapidary's  art 
before  it  attains  its  lustrous  beauty.  So  must  the 
emerald  and  ruby  and  all  the  stones  of  their  class. 
There  must  be  scientific  cleavages  made.  The  various 
angles  must  be  gotten  just  right.  Revolving  wheel 
and  emery  powder  must  do  service  to  give  the  final 
finish.  Months  of  labour,  and  sometimes  two  whole 
years  of  work,  are  expended  upon  a  single  diamond. 

Before  the  soul  can  flash  as  God's  signet,  it  must 
be  brought  out  of  the  rough  state  of  nature.  It  must 
be  subjected  to  wondrous  processes  of  grace.  There 
is  required,  for  instance,  some  deep  cleavage  of  con- 
viction. The  defects  caused  by  sin  need  to  be  cleared 
away.  In  order  to  this,  the  great  Artist  cuts  straight 
into  it  with  the  sharp  truth  of  His  Word.  He  says, 
Thou  hast  sinned  in  deed,  word,  and  thought.    With 


The  Weaving  of  Life's  Web  153 

this  discerning  of  the  very  intents  of  the  heart,  there 
is  that  which  is  "  sharper  than  any  two-edged  sword, 
and  piercing  even  to  the  dividing  of  soul  and  spirit." 
The  whole  being  sometimes  seems  to  be  rent  through 
and  through  by  the  awful  consciousness  of  guilt. 
One  feels  his  essential  meanness,  his  great  unworthi- 
ness.  He  is  cut  to  the  heart  because  of  his  manifold 
sins,  and  he  longs  to  come  into  the  beauty  of  Christ- 
like character.  One  of  God's  methods  for  preparing 
a  soul  to  be  His  signet  is  by  the  cleavage  which 
comes  from  conviction  of  sin. 

There  is  also  in  human  life  what  corresponds  to 
the  lapidary's  wheel.  There  is  many  a  turn  of  vary- 
ing fortune ;  sometimes  one  is  on  the  top,  and  again 
he  is  rolled  under.  He  is  prosperous,  and  then  he 
meets  with  adversity.  He  is  in  the  full  flush  of  suc- 
cess, and  again  he  knows  what  financial  stringency 
is.  It  is  the  great  Artist's  wheel  whirhng  him 
through  the  different  experiences  needful  to  develop 
the  best  character.  God  thus  tries  to  make  the  life 
religious.  Or  He  brings  affliction  and  sorrow,  which 
are  like  the  fine  emery  powder,  grinding  upon  the 
sensitive  heart.  A  divine  purpose  is  thereby  an- 
swered. The  perfectly  smooth  surface  of  a  polished 
stone  sonietimes  has  to  be  roughened  a  bit,  that 
definite  lines  and  impressions  may  be  made  thereon. 
The  soul,  that  has  been  roughened  by  the  abrasion  of 
trouble,  is  better  fitted  to  receive  the  delicate  engrav- 
ings of  God  in  what  are  called  spiritual  impressions. 


154    ^^^  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

In  these  several  ways  does  God  take  a  soul  in 
rough,  in  a  state  of  nature,  and  by  the  disciplinary, 
and  by  transmutations  of  grace,  He  makes  it  an  en- 
graved stone,  fit  to  be  worn  as  an  ornament  on  His 
own  hand.  One  can  be  brought  after  this  fashion 
to  shine  to  the  glory  of  God.  While  perhaps  adorn- 
ing in  a  way  society,  there  should  be  a  distinctly 
Christian  setting. 

The  empress  of  Russia  wears  a  diamond,  which  is 
said  long  to  have  served  as  one  of  the  eyes  of  a  pagan 
idol.  A  person  may  be  shining  from  some  worldly 
standpoint,  the  eye  of  some  idol,  when  he  could  be 
flashing  with  splendour,  with  bright  religious  char- 
acter, as  one  of  the  great  King's  jewels.  He  was 
not  created  to  remain  in  the  dullness  and  imperfec- 
tion of  his  natural  state,  but  to  be  developed  by  the 
skill  of  the  divine  Artist  into  a  bright  ornament.  In 
other  words,  he  should  become  a  shining  light,  a 
Christian  radiating  brightness,  like  a  signet  in  which 
the  owner  takes  infinite  delight.  Every  conviction 
of  sin,  every  reverse  of  fortune,  every  infliction  of 
trouble,  is  designed  to  bring  out  the  full  beauty  of 
the  stone.  Afflicted  Zion  is  represented  by  Isaiah 
as  saying  that  she  was  forsaken  of  God,  who  how- 
ever assures  her,  "  Behold,  I  have  graven  thee  upon 
the  palms  of  my  hands,"  and  *'  I  will  lay  thy  stones 
with  fair  colours." 

The  signet,  however,  is  to  be  useful  as  well  as  or- 
namental, serviceable  to  others  as  v/ell  as  beautiful  in 


The  Weaving  of  Life's  Web  155 

itself.  It  was  designed  originally  to  seal,  to  make  an 
impression.  It  is  not  sufficient  to  become  simply- 
professed  Christians.  Counterfeits  are  made  of  all 
the  precious  stones.  There  are  regular  manufactories 
of  artificial  gems,  and  the  imitations  cannot  be  readily 
detected,  cannot  easily  be  distinguished  from  the 
genuine,  except  by  an  adept.  In  the  ring,  in  the 
circle  of  disciples  constituting  the  Christian  Church, 
are  the  real  stones  and  also  the  artificial,  are  genuine 
and  also  counterfeit  Christians.  They  seem  to  be  of 
about  equal  briUiancy,  but  God  sees  the  difference, 
and  we  can  by  close  observation.  The  professed  be- 
liever merely  does  no  work,  he  is  not  living  his  re- 
ligion, he  is  making  no  impress  on  others.  He  is 
not  acting  as  a  seal  upon  God's  hand  to  make  upon 
plastic  natures  religious  impressions.  He  is  not  mak- 
ing others  feel  his  Christianity,  he  is  not  living  in 
such  a  manner  that  his  acquaintances  are  taking 
knowledge  of  him  that  he  has  been  with  Jesus. 

There  are  impressible  natures,  which  we  can  in- 
fluence, if  we  have  real  Christian  character,  if  we  are 
God's  signet  and  not  an  artificial  gem,  if  we  are  the 
Revelator's  "  white  stone "  whereon  is  written  the 
"  new  name."  We  do  not  have  to  be  any  particular 
stone  to  act  as  a  seal  upon  others.  We  may  not  be 
a  "  brilliant,"  a  diamond,  we  may  not  have  shining 
ability,  we  may  not  have  resplendent  talent,  but  we 
can  be  some  one  of  the  twelve  gems,  by  which  the 
different  qualities  of  the  twelve  tribes  were  indicated. 


156    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

We  can  do  something  for  the  Master.  There  is 
some  one,  over  whom  we  can  exert  an  influence  for 
good,  and  upon  whom  we  can  place  the  stamp  of  our 
consecrated  personaHty.  We  should  endeavour  to 
be  the  very  diamond,  with  its  cutting  power  and  its 
flashing  radiance,  or  if  not  that,  some  other  stone 
such  as  He  can  use  more  or  less  effectively.  God 
stands  ready  to  make  each  of  us  just  such  an  instru- 
mentality for  good,  taking  us  in  the  rough  and  mak- 
ing us  Christlike,  and  then  using  us  to  impress  others 
religiously.  He  will  not  only  bring  out  in  us  the 
perfected  beauty  of  the  precious  stone,  but  He  will 
give  the  Christian  character  thus  formed  such  a 
favourable  setting  upon  His  own  hand  that  we  shall 
be  able  to  influence  and  shape  other  lives.  We  can 
thus  be  not  only  ornamental,  as  Titus  says,  "  adorn- 
ing the  doctrine  of  God  our  Saviour,"  but  we  can 
also  be  useful,  contributing  to  the  progress  of  the 
kingdom. 


XII 
The  Silent  Building  of  the  Temple 

CONSPICUOUS  in  the  world  at  present  is  the 
miUtarist  type  of  man.  He  answers  to  the 
description  of  the  **  war  lord."  He  is  ag- 
gressive, brutally  disregardful  of  the  rights  and  feel- 
ings of  others.  Shakespeare  seems  to  have  him  in 
mind  when  he  writes  : 

*'  Man,  proud  man, 
Drest  in  a  httle  brief  authority. 
Plays  such  fantastic  tricks  before  high  heaven 
As  make  the  angels  weep.*' 

The  modern  man,  in  order  to  be  masterful,  need  not 
be  domineering.  He  need  not  ride  rough-shod  over 
others.  He  need  not  bluster.  Indeed,  in  order  to 
the  ideal,  a  milder  quality  must  enter  into  his 
make-up.  He  must  be  able  to  say  with  David, 
"  Thy  gentleness  hath  made  me  great."  Our  great- 
est dramatist  endorses  this  Scriptural  conception  of 
strength  of  manhood  when  he  says : 

**  His  life  was  gentle,  and  the  elements 
So  mixed  in  him,  that  Nature  might  stand  up 
And  say  to  all  the  world.  This  was  a  man.'* 

The  unobtrusive,  the  unostentatious,  is   what  we 
should  seek.     The  building  of  character  should  be 

157 


158    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

like  that  of  Solomon's  temple,  concerning  which  we 
have  this  record :  "And  the  house,  when  it  was  in 
building,  was  built  of  stone  made  ready  at  the 
quarry ;  and  there  was  neither  hammer  nor  axe  nor 
any  tool  of  iron  heard  in  the  house,  while  it  was  in 
building."  The  growth  in  nature  is  gradual  and 
quiet.  Let  one  accustomed  to  the  hubbub  of  the 
city  go  into  the  country,  and  how  peaceful  every- 
thing seems.  There  is  no  ringing  of  bells,  no  blow- 
ing of  whistles,  no  clanging  of  hammers,  no  whir  of 
machinery.  A  solemn  hush  rests  on  the  whole  rural 
scene.  There  is  quiet  in  the  valleys,  there  is  repose 
in  the  mountains.  There  is  stillness  in  the  woods, 
there  is  serenity  in  the  sky.  A  solitary  voice  attracts 
attention,  as  the  farmer  speaks  to  his  team.  The 
silence  is  so  marked  that  a  hollow  echo  is  noticeable. 
And  yet  mighty  forces  are  at  work,  upbuilding  the 
vegetable  kingdom.  There  is  being  made  to  appear 
the  blade,  and  the  ear,  and  the  full  corn  in  the  ear. 
There  is  being  brought  forth  leaf,  and  flower,  and 
fruit. 

What  a  transformation  again  is  wrought  in  nature 
by  the  succession  of  the  seasons,  and  yet  there  is  no 
noise.  One  of  our  little  puffing  road  rollers  makes 
more  commotion  than  all  the  wheeling  spheres 
moved  by  the  hand  of  Omnipotence.  It  is  the  silent 
process  that  speaks  most  of  power,  and  that  most 
commands  our  admiration.  Says  John  Burroughs 
of  the  vast  ice-engine,  which  ploughs  out  huge  val- 


The  Silent  Building  of  the  Temple      159 

leys  like  the  Yosemite :  "  A  glacier  is  almost  as  silent 
as  the  slumbering  rocks,  and,  to  all  but  the  eye  of 
science,  nearly  as  immobile,  save  where  it  dis- 
charges into  the  sea.  It  is  noisy  in  its  dying,  but  in 
the  height  of  its  power  it  is  as  still  as  the  falling 
snow  of  which  it  is  made."  This  author  further  says 
of  the  disintegrating  forces  of  nature,  silent  and  yet' 
powerful,  "  They  are  grinding  up  the  rocks  every- 
where— pulverizing  the  granite,  the  limestone,  the 
sandstone,  the  basalt,  between  the  upper  and  nether 
millstones  of  air  and  water,  to  make  the  soil,  but  we 
hear  no  sound  and  mark  no  change ;  only  in  geolog- 
ical time  are  the  results  recorded." 

It  is  the  same  in  history.  The  great  building  eras 
are  the  years  of  peace,  and  not  those  of  war,  and  his- 
torians are  increasingly  recognizing  this  fact.  They 
used  to  relate  little  more  than  the  conflicts  between 
alien  races.  They  filled  their  pages  with  accounts  of 
bloody  struggles  between  hostile  nations.  They  wrote 
almost  exclusively  of  wars,  and  rumours  of  wan. 
Modern  writers  very  fittingly  are  dwelling  less  upon 
the  sanguinary,  and  are  giving  more  attention  to  art, 
and  architecture,  and  agriculture,  and  industrial 
growth,  and  advance  in  science,  and  progress  in  in- 
vention, and  moral  and  religious  development.  They 
are  telling  less  how  people  fought,  and  more  how 
they  lived.  We  are  being  reminded  that  the  silent 
building  going  on  during  the  years  of  tranquillity  is 
more   important  and  more  to  be  desired  than  the 


l6o    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

tumult  of  battle.  We  abhor  the  clash  of  arms  that 
involves  all  the  continents  of  the  globe.  We  are 
learning  to  appreciate  the  substantial  rather  than  the 
showy.  We  have  come  to  admire  the  Augustan  age 
of  the  Roman  Empire,  because  then  the  temple  of 
Janus  was  closed  as  emblematic  of  the  fact  that  no 
wars  were  being  waged,  and  because  at  that  time  ap- 
peared the  Prince  of  peace  on  earth. 

We  are  seeing  more  and  more  the  glory  of 
Solomon's  reign,  to  which  even  Christ  called  atten- 
tion, because  under  him  the  kingdom  of  Israel  had 
rest  from  its  adversaries,  and  because  on  that  account 
there  was  time,  and  there  was  opportunity,  for  the 
development  of  the  religious.  The  building  of  the 
temple  is  what  specially  made  his  administration 
glorious.  David  was  divinely  forbidden  to  erect  the 
house  of  God,  because  he  had  been  a  man  of  war. 
This  great  and  beneficent  enterprise  was  left  to  Sol- 
omon, whose  very  name  means  "  peaceful."  He  could 
and  did  enter  into  the  true  spirit  for  the  erection  of  the 
edifice.  He  felt  that  it  should  go  up  without  noise. 
Accordingly  he  had  the  timbers  all  hewn  in  their 
native  forests  that  waved  in  primeval  beauty  and 
strength  from  the  heights  of  the  Lebanon  range  of 
mountains.  He  had  the  stones,  enormous  as  they 
were,  some  of  them  measuring  seventeen  and  eight- 
een feet  in  length  when  dressed, — he  had  all  these 
prepared  in  quarries  as  distant  as  the  forests,  or 
deeply  secluded  underneath  the  city,  within  whose 


The  Silent  Building  of  the  Temple      161 

excavated  and  hidden  recesses  modern  tourists  wan- 
der amid  a  profound  silence.  Not  that  noise  was 
absolutely  avoided.  There  must  have  been  tumult 
enough  in  the  forests  and  mountains  and  quarries, 
where  the  basal  work  was  done.  There  30,000  were 
employed  to  cut  the  timber.  There  80,000  were 
hewers  of  stone.  There  70,000  were  porters.  There 
was  a  regular  army  of  labourers,  and  the  ring  of  the 
axe  and  the  sound  of  the  hammer  must  have  been 
incessant  at  Lebanon,  and  the  air  there  must  have 
been  filled  with  din  and  confusion.  But  the  actual 
rising  of  the  walls  at  Jerusalem  was  in  silence.  As  a 
poet  has  said : 

**  Like  some  tall  palm  the  noiseless  fabric  sprung." 

I.  We  can  apply  this  truth,  first,  to  the  silent 
building  of  a  church.  Private  differences  of  opinion 
should  rarely  be  carried  to  the  point  of  controversy 
and  open  collision.  The  peace  of  Zion  should  be 
maintained,  even  if  individual  views  have  to  be  held 
somewhat  in  check.  The  less  agitation  and  dis- 
cussion, the  less  accentuation  of  differences  there 
may  be,  the  better  ordinarily.  Most  of  us  have  ideas, 
which  if  aggressively  expressed  would  antagonize, 
which  it  is  not  necessary  sharply  to  define  and 
urgently  to  press.  We  are  stones  in  the  rough,  and 
we  need  hewing,  we  need  to  have  some  of  the  angles 
taken  off,  if  from  us  collectively  a  beautiful  and 
symmetrical  temple  is  to  arise. 


l62    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

For  this  reason  we  should  be  charitable  rather 
than  censorious  as  regards  one  another.  Instead  of 
assailing  others  or  their  views,  we  can  well  take  our- 
selves in  hand,  we  can  search  our  own  hearts,  we  can 
look  for  our  own  faults  and  defective  conceptions. 
Then,  as  we  become  associated  with  others,  we  will 
recognize  not  only  diversities  of  gifts  but  also  of 
temptations  and  concepts  and  failures,  and  we  will 
fit  in  better  with  those  who  are  seen  to  be  of  like 
passions  with  ourselves  and  who  yet  are  dissimilar. 
Let  there  be  less  strictures  upon  others  and  more 
private  quarrying,  more  hewing  at  our  own  character, 
and  they  and  we  together  will  constitute  what  Peter 
calls  a  "  spiritual  house,"  and  what  Paul  terms  •'  a 
holy  temple,"  "  a  habitation  of  God,"  "  fitly  framed 
together."  That  is  what  it  is  to  be  a  church  that 
grows  silently,  like  Solomon's  temple,  without  sound 
of  axe  or  hammer,  without  the  personal  antagonisms 
which  sometimes  prove  so  destructive.  We  are  to 
keep  the  axe  and  hammer,  the  hewing  and  the  ham- 
mering, to  their  proper  sphere,  to  their  making  of 
ourselves  "  living  stones,"  or  as  the  Psalmist  says, 
"  stones  hewn  after  the  fashion  of  a  palace."  Such 
stones,  Hke  sculptured  pillars,  will  gracefully  drop 
into  their  niches,  will  take  their  place  in  with  the 
rest  without  a  jar,  and  with  the  silence  and  peace 
that  breathe  in  the  great  cathedral,  whose  tranquil 
calm  is  never  broken  by  sound  of  any  iron  tool. 

2.     Silent  building  is  needed  in  the  home  as  well 


The  Silent  Building  of  the  Temple      163 

as  in  the  church.  Business,  for  instance,  does  not  go 
right.  There  are  annoyances  in  the  office  or  in  the 
factory  or  in  the  store.  Some  one  did  not  get  his 
order  filled  satisfactorily.  There  has  been  complaint 
because  goods  were  not  delivered  promptly.  A 
customer,  in  buying  an  article,  says  some  sharp  and 
unjust  thing,  and  that  causes  an  angry  retort  of  which 
the  unpleasant  recollection  does  not  easily  fade.  A 
clerk  makes  a  blunder,  and  gets  things  sadly  mixed. 
There  are  these  commercial  and  similar  professional 
distractions.  Carry  such  things  home,  and  the 
whole  household  is  disturbed.  Irritation  is  made  to 
reign  there. 

There  may  be  times  when  it  is  proper  to  seek 
sympathy  from  the  rehearsal  of  worries  and  troubles, 
but  a  daily,  a  constant  turning  over  to  the  family 
of  the  perplexities  and  vexations  incident  to  business 
or  to  our  work  is  not  healthful  in  its  influence,  is  not 
promotive  of  the  highest  good.  Many  things  should 
be  rigorously  kept  to  the  counting  room,  or  to  the 
shop,  or  to  the  study.  They  cannot  be  shared  with 
others  to  any  advantage.  They  may  even  poison 
the  whole  domestic  atmosphere,  causing  there  a 
constant  ferment  which  is  destructive  of  all  quietness 
of  mind  and  serenity  of  living. 

Or  the  difficulties  may  come  from  the  other  side 
of  the  house.  The  servant  spoiled  something,  she 
broke  a  choice  piece  of  ware.  There  was  friction 
between  the  housekeeper  and  her  help.     Added  to 


164    The  Modem  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

all  was  the  misbehaviour  of  children.  This  one  did 
that,  and  another  did  something  else.  There  was  a 
good  deal  of  disturbance  the  whole  day,  and  at  the 
evening  meal  it  is  all  gone  over,  and  the  entire  family 
is  made  unhappy.  As  a  consequence  the  children 
scatter  as  speedily  as  they  can,  and  the  husband 
seeks  relief  in  the  club  or  in  some  other  place  of 
resort.  Here,  too,  is  it  true  that  some  things  should 
be  settled  at  the  time,  and  by  the  parties  directly 
concerned.  Not  that  the  head  of  the  house  should 
be  unwilling  to  carry  in  part  the  burdens  of  domestic 
hfe,  but  things  should  not  unnecessarily  be  put  upon 
his  shoulders.  He  should  not  be  compelled,  with  his 
heavy  outside  responsibilities,  to  be  a  listener  to 
chronic  complaints.  Let  the  hewing  be  done,  let 
the  chips  be  made  to  fly,  if  need  be,  in  the  quarry, 
in  the  nursery,  in  the  kitchen,  but  do  not  let  the 
spirit  of  these  rule  the  whole  house.  When  the 
family  come  together,  let  the  pleasant  and  agreeable, 
so  far  as  possible,  be  uppermost. 

Petty  vexations  on  both  sides  should  be  left  in 
the  quarry,  in  their  proper  place,  and  there  should 
be  brought  to  the  building  up  of  the  home  what 
would  not  break  the  holy  calm  and  the  peaceful 
silence  of  a  temple.  Let  there  not  be  sound  of  axe 
and  hammer,  but  an  atmosphere  of  repose  and  rest- 
fulness.  There  will  have  to  be  hewing  to  the  line, 
there  will  have  to  be  cutting  and  hammering,  but 
out   of  it   all   should   come   characters   that  are  by 


The  Silent  Building  of  the  Temple      165 

divine  grace  perfected,  and  that  are  all  the  better 
prepared,  because  of  trials,  for  making  the  symmet- 
rical home.  The  chiselled  and  polished  stones, 
those  who  have  been  properly  disciplined,  will  drop 
noiselessly  into  their  respective  niches,  combining  to 
form  the  ideal  household  of  faith. 

3.  Once  more,  there  should  be  silent  building  in 
the  case  of  the  individual.  There  is  a  freedom  of 
speech  which  is  not  Christian,  which  unnecessarily 
hurts  the  feehngs  of  others,  and  excuses  itself  on  the 
ground  of  being  honest  and  frank,  of  speaking  right 
out  what  one  thinks.  Criticism  is  freely  passed  upon 
others,  and  fraternal  and  friendly  relations  are  thus 
disturbed.  The  plea  often  made  is  that  a  person 
might  as  well  say  the  adverse  thing  as  to  think  it, 
but  this  is  a  mistaken  desire  to  be  open  and  sincere. 
For  the  selfish  purpose  of  getting  the  reputation  of 
being  blunt  and  outspoken,  he  will  give  his  opinions 
about  others  in  a  way  that  cuts  their  sensitive  souls 
to  the  quick. 

We  need  to  curb  this  propensity  to  which  we  are  all 
so  prone.  We  may  keep  up  a  terrible  thinking,  if 
you  please,  but  we  might  better  keep  still  oftener 
than  we  do.  Von  Moltke,  the  great  general  who 
planned  the  campaigns  that  humbled  Austria  and 
France  and  that  secured  German  unity  and  suprem- 
acy, did  not  appear  on  the  field,  but  quietly  at  home 
arranged  all  the  details  which  proved  so  successful. 
Quite  as  wonderful  as  this  was  is  the  fact  that  though 


i66    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

he  was  a  fine  linguist  and  could  write  and  speak  ten 
languages,  he  yet  was  specially  distinguished,  we 
are  informed,  for  being  able  to  keep  silent  in  all  ten. 
How  he  ever  could  have  done  so  is  a  mystery  to  us, 
who  find  it  difficult  to  maintain  a  proper  silence  in 
one  language.  But  then  he  was  a  great  commander, 
and  his  greatness  perhaps  appeared  more  in  his 
masterful  self-control  than  in  the  military  move- 
ments which  he  directed  to  such  a  successful  issue. 
"  Better,"  says  Scripture,  "  is  he  that  ruleth  his  spirit 
than  he  that  taketh  a  city." 

An  Athenian  maiden,  Lansea,  which  means  lioness, 
refused  to  reveal  the  names  of  her  lover's  accomplices 
in  striking  down  a  tyrant.  She  was  put  under  tor- 
ture, but  still  she  held  her  tongue,  and  she  died 
silent.  A  bronze  Honess  without  a  tongue  long 
stood  on  the  Acropolis  to  commemorate  her  forti- 
tude even  to  the  point  of  silence  until  death  came  to 
her  relief,  when  many  would  have  spoken.  She  in 
this  respect  is  a  good  example  for  us  to  follow  under 
less  trying  circumstances.  We  too  easily  yield  to 
sharp  and  unwise  expressions.  If  we  must  form 
harsh  judgments,  if  we  must  hew  to  the  line  in  our 
estimate  of  others,  let  it  usually  be  in  the  quarry 
of  our  own  minds,  but  when  we  come  to  express 
ourselves,  let  it  ordinarily  be  in  the  way  of  what  we 
can  say  in  commendation. 

Dr.  Goodell,  in  his  last  years  pastor  of  the  largest 
Congregational    Church    in   St.   Louis,  recorded   a 


The  Silent  Building  of  the  Temple      167 

prayer  which  we  should  make  ours,  namely,  "  O 
Lord,  help  me  never  to  speak  of  one  person  to 
another,  save  in  respect  to  his  virtues."  If  all  would 
cease  their  uselessly  critical  remarks,  those  that  do 
no  good,  for  just  a  day,  what  a  silence  would  fall 
upon  the  world,  but  it  would  be  a  most  genial  and 
delightful  atmosphere  in  which  all  the  Christian 
graces  would  spring  up  spontaneously.  We  pro- 
mote our  own  religious  growth  by  maintaining  a 
judicious  silence,  whatever  may  be  our  thoughts. 
The  expression  of  opinions  confirms  us  in  the  same, 
and  we  thus  acquire  an  excessively  critical  spirit 
which  is  not  Christlike.  We  necessarily  form 
opinions,  and  sometimes  we  should  advance  them 
vigorously  even  to  the  extent  of  denouncing  indi- 
viduals for  cruel  wrong  and  injustice,  but  oftener  we 
should  be  discreetly  reticent. 

Among  the  divinities  of  classic  times,  the  good 
and  wise  Numa,  says  Plutarch,  "  recommended  to 
the  veneration  of  the  Romans  one  in  particular, 
whom  he  named  Tacita,  the  silent."  We  more  fre- 
quently should  be  taciturn,  walking  in  silence.  The 
ancient  writer  just  quoted  says  of  Pericles,  "  Once, 
after  being  reviled  and  ill  spoken  of  all  day  long  in 
his  own  hearing  by  some  vile  and  abandoned  fellow 
in  the  open  market-place,  when  he  was  engaged  in 
the  despatch  of  some  urgent  affair,  he  continued  his 
business  in  perfect  silence,  and  in  the  evening  re- 
turned home  composedly,  the  man  still  dogging  him 


i68    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

at  the  heels,  and  pelting  him  all  the  way  with  abuse 
and  foul  language ;  and  stepping  into  his  house,  it 
being  by  this  time  dark,  he  ordered  one  of  his  serv- 
ants to  take  a  hght,  and  to  go  along  with  the  man 
and  see  him  safe  home."  He  hghted  homeward  one 
who  had  abused  him  all  day  and  all  the  way  to  his 
house  at  night.  That  is  a  pagan  example  worthy  of 
Christian  emulation,  answering  admirably  to  the 
Master's  ideal,  though  reviled  to  revile  not  again. 

We  should  learn  to  be  patiently  silent  under  ex- 
asperating circumstances,  and  especially  should  we 
ourselves  refrain  from  the  acrimonious.  We  should 
not  throw  off  criticisms  in  the  rough.  We  should 
trim  them  in  our  private  quarry,  till  they  lose  all 
that  they  contain  of  asperity  and  of  personal  reflec- 
tion and  of  venomous  sting.  Then  as  generally  we 
speak  only  words  of  praise  about  others,  our  own 
Christian  character  will  grow  silently  and  beauti- 
fully in  the  considerate  silence  which  we  have  main- 
tained. We  shall  find  ourselves  steadily  rising  in  the 
religious  life,  noiselessly  and  undemonstratively  it 
may  be,  but  none  the  less  surely  than  rose  the  temple 
in  silence,  when  the  quarrying  was  all  done  out  of 
sight  and  hearing. 

The  conclusion  of  the  whole  matter  is  that  a  cer- 
tain silence  is  essential  to  the  best  development  of 
the  church,  of  the  home,  and  of  the  individual,  and 
that  what  hewing  and  hammering  may  be  necessary 
should  be  in  the  hidden  quarries.     Even  in  these 


The  Silent  Building  of  the  Temple      169 

secret  recesses  we  should  remember  the  watchful 
eyes  of  Him  who  is  above.  Phidias,  the  ancient 
Greek  sculptor,  poHshed  the  backs  of  his  statues 
which  stood  against  the  temple  walls,  on  the  ground 
that  if  men  did  not  see  what  was  thus  out  of  the  pub- 
lic gaze,  the  gods  saw  all.  We  should  be  equally 
conscientious  in  the  sight  of  the  Omniscient.  We 
should  be  silent  builders  for  God,  praying  to  the 
Father  in  secret  over  difficulties  and  deficiencies  that 
only  He  need  know,  and  that  we  should  be  glad  to 
have  Him  know.  He  stands  ready  to  help  us  in  a 
quiet  way  to  attain  unto  the  perfection  which  will  be 
finally  reached,  when  the  topstone  of  Christian  char- 
acter shall  be  laid  amid  the  breathless  attention  of 
angels,  who  will  break  out  into  the  applause  of 
"  Grace,  grace  unto  it,"  only  when  the  moral  struc- 
ture we  have  been  rearing  has  been  silently  finished 
in  heaven. 


XIII 

Limited  Though  Ample  Opportunities 

WHEN  we  are  urged  to  a  life  of  Christian 
activity,  we  often  excuse  ourselves  on  the 
ground  of  lack  of  opportunity.  There 
seems  to  be  no  conspicuous  place  where  we  can 
make  our  strenuous  efforts  count.  We  too  fre- 
quently are  looking  for  some  open  door,  which  will 
fairly  challenge  our  highest  capabilities.  But  the 
most  active  man  who  ever  lived  was  accustomed  to 
consider  limited  opportunities  as  entirely  ample. 
What  did  the  chief  of  the  apostles  write  to  the  Phi- 
lippians  ?  Simply  this  :  "  Now  I  would  have  you 
know,  brethren,  that  the  things  which  happened 
'  unto  me  have  fallen  out  rather  unto  the  progress  of 
the  Gospel;  so  that  my  bonds  became  manifest  in 
Christ  throughout  the  whole  praetorian  guard,  and  to 
all  the  rest."  That  was  a  cheerful  view  for  Paul  to 
take  of  what  was  certainly  a  cramped  situation.  His 
imprisonment,  which  hampered  and  restricted  his 
movements,  turned  out  to  the  benefit  of  the  cause. 

This  is  the  way  the  matter  worked  :  The  soldier, 
to  whom  he  was  chained  to-day,  might  be  converted, 
and  to-morrow  be  standing  before  the  emperor  as 

170 


Limited  Though  Ample  Opportunities    171 

one  of  the  imperial  guard,  and  thus  some  of  "  Caesar's 
household "  might  be  reached,  as  we  are  informed 
they  were.  Or  soldiers,  who  had  become  Christians 
while  guarding  Paul,  might  be  transferred,  we  will 
say,  to  Britain,  and  so  carry  the  Gospel  there,  where 
indeed  the  wife  of  the  Roman  general  in  charge  of 
that  province  is  said  to  have  become  a  convert. 
When  Tacitus  says  that  she  was  "  accused  of  a  for- 
eign superstition,"  since  this  Latin  historian  termed 
Christianity  a  "  superstition,"  this  is  evidence  that 
she  had  become  a  disciple  of  Christ,  not  improbably 
through  the  influence  of  soldiers  who  had  become 
Christians  while  acting  as  guard  to  Paul. 

Through  the  same  agency,  it  is  not  unreasonable 
to  suppose  that  British  princess  may  have  been  con- 
verted of  whom  the  Poet  Martial  in  the  first  century 
sang  in  these  lines  : 

"  Though  British  skies  first  beamed  on  Claudia's  face, 
Her  beauty  far  outvies  the  Latin  race : 
E'en  Grecian  nymphs  her  form  cannot  excel, 
Or  Roman  matrons  play  the  queen  so  well." 

She  is  thought  by  some  to  have  been  the  Claudia 
who  joined  Paul  in  salutations  to  young  Timothy 
from  Rome,  where  she  may  have  been  visiting  at  the 
time.  She  is  alleged  to  have  taught  the  apostle's 
principles  to  our  benighted  ancestors  in  England,  her 
native  country.  Paul's  chain,  therefore,  seems  to 
have  hnked  him,  in  the  influence  which  he  exerted, 


172    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

with  every  part  of  the  Roman  Empire.  His  bonds 
resulted  in  "  the  progress  of  the  Gospel,"  as  he  himself 
said,  "  throughout  the  whole  praetorian  guard,  and  to 
all  the  rest."  He  worked  out  to  the  length  of  his 
chain,  and  how  wide-spreading  have  been  the  results  ! 

Not  that  he  never  chafed  under  his  restrictions,  for 
he  did.  With  an  outburst  of  feeling  before  King 
Agrippa  he  wished  that  others  were  altogether  such 
as  he  was,  "  except  these  bonds."  He  evidently 
longed  to  be  freed  from  the  limitations  thus  placed 
upon  his  activities.  There  is  pathos  in  the  request 
which  he  sent  to  the  Colossians,  namely,  "  Remem- 
ber my  bonds."  The  Ephesians  must  have  been 
touched  by  his  portrayal  of  himself  as  Christ's  "  am- 
bassador in  chains."  Never  under  civilized  condi- 
tions had  the  representative  of  any  human  government 
been  subjected  to  such  indignity.  It  was  a  violation 
of  international  law  even  among  the  ancients  to  put 
a  diplomatist  in  chains.  But  a  minister  from  the 
high  court  of  heaven  was  thus  shamefully  treated  by 
an  earthly  power.  He,  however,  made  the  best  of 
the  situation.  He  turned  the  providential  hmitation 
upon  his  freedom  to  a  circumscribed  though  very  po- 
tential service  for  the  Master.  His  chains  even  in- 
creased his  influence. 

We  have  illustrations  of  this  from  the  confinement 
at  Caesarea,  in  that  it  gave  him  the  opportunity  to 
speak  to  Felix  till  this  Roman  governor  trembled, 
and  to  Agrippa  until  this  king  was  almost  persuaded 


Limited  Though  Ample  Opportunities    173 

to  become  a  Christian,  however  ironically  this  ad- 
mission may  have  been  made.  Then  in  the  Roman 
imprisonment  we  have  him  saying  in  his  epistle  to 
Philemon  of  that  master's  runaway  slave,  Onesimus, 
"  whom  I  have  begotten  in  my  bonds."  That  is,  he 
was  the  means  of  saving  that  poor  wretch,  who  had 
robbed  Philemon,  and  who  had  fled  to  that  city  which 
Juvenal  compared  to  a  "vast  sewer,"  into  which 
flowed  "  the  dregs  "  of  all  lands.  But  the  hitherto 
worthless,  miserable  fellow,  who  came  in  contact  with 
the  imprisoned  Paul  at  Rome,  went  away  a  new 
creature  in  Christ  Jesus,  no  longer  a  slave  but  a 
'•  brother  beloved."  That  was  the  kind  of  work  the 
apostle  was  doing  even  in  bonds,  rescuing  from  sin 
either  directly  or  indirectly  British  princess  and  Ro- 
man slave.  Confined  to  a  hired  house,  and  part  of 
the  time,  it  has  been  conjectured,  to  the  famous 
Mamertine  prison,  whose  two  dark  subterranean 
chambers  very  appropriately  at  present  serve  as 
chapels  for  worship,  and  whose  chill  and  gloom 
some  of  us  have  felt,  as  we  have  entered  them  on 
visiting  the  eternal  city : — deprived  of  his  Hberty  in 
these  underground  vaults,  prevented  from  going 
everywhere  as  he  would  have  liked,  he  yet  did  good, 
and  through  those  nearest  his  person  he  reached  out 
after  others,  till  every  part  of  the  empire  felt  his 
influence. 

It  is  not  strange  that  so  grand  a  man  was  sought 
out  by  Onesiphorus,  who  went  to  Rom.e,  and  who, 


1 74    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

says  the  apostle  in  writing  to  Timothy,  **  was  not 
ashamed  of  my  chain."  Paul  himself  came  to  recog- 
nize more  and  more  the  triumphs  he  was  gaining 
notwithstanding  the  hindrances  of  his  imprisonment. 
His  farewell  words,  issuing  from  his  dismal  dungeon, 
came  forth  like  a  trumpet  blast,  as  we  have  them  in 
the  last  letter  he  ever  wrote,  "  I  suffer  hardship  unto 
bonds,  but  the  word  of  God  is  not  bound."  Five  of 
his  epistles,  Colossians,  Ephesians,  Philemon,  Philip- 
pians,  and  Second  Timothy,  came  from  him  during 
the  Roman  imprisonment.  The  Word  of  God,  as 
coming  from  his  own  inspired  heart  under  such  cir- 
cumstances, has  been  moulding  lives  and  reconstruct- 
ing society  ever  since,  through  a  stretch  of  nineteen 
centuries.  He  scarcely  could  have  appreciated  the 
mighty  truth  he  uttered,  that  the  Gospel  was  not  to 
be  restricted  in  its  victories.  He  hardly  could  have 
realized  how  widely  the  religion  he  proclaimed  was 
to  prevail ;  that  it  was  to  pervade  the  whole  Roman 
Empire,  and  eventually  the  entire  world ;  that  many 
hundreds  of  years  after  he  wrote,  his  words,  penned 
with  shackled  arm,  were  to  be  the  theme  in  pulpits 
clear  round  the  globe.  Again  and  again  has  it 
proved  true  that  no  prison  walls  can  frustrate  the 
divine  purpose. 

From  Luther,  while  a  prisoner  at  the  Wartburg 
Castle  in  the  Thuringian  forest,  came  the  German 
Bible  in  the  vernacular  of  the  fatherland.  From 
Bedford  jail  came  Bunyan's  immortal  allegory,  the 


Limited  Though  Ample  Opportunities    175 

"  Pilgrim's  Progress,"  which  has  been  translated  into 
almost  every  language  of  earth.  The  dreamer  in  his 
narrow  quarters  well  wrote  : 

**  For  though  men  keep  my  outward  man 
Within  their  bolts  and  bars, 
Yet,  by  the  faith  of  Christ,  I  can 
Mount  higher  than  the  stars." 

From  the  Tower  of  London,  where  have  languished 
kings  and  martyrs  and  dehcate  women  like  Anne 
Boleyn  and  Lady  Jane  Grey, — from  that  fortress  first 
came  the  hymn  which  is  still  sung,  as  composed,  it  is 
said,  by  Francis  Baker : 

*'  Jerusalem,  my  happy  home  ! 
Name  ever  dear  to  me  ! 
When  shall  my  labours  have  an  end, 
In  joy,  in  peace,  in  thee?  " 

That  hymn  could  not  be  confined,  not  by  the  walls 
of  London's  Tower  itself,  which  no  dynamite  can 
easily  overthrow.  Like  the  song  from  the  jail  at 
Philippi  at  midnight,  it  still  rises  towards  the  sky. 
Like  the  nightingale's  song  it  soars  away  upward 
through  the  darkness.  That  which  has  the  inspira- 
tion of  heaven  cannot  be  fettered. 

Madame  Guyon  in  imprisonment,  with  something 
of  the  French  but  with  more  of  the  Christian  elasticity 
of  spirit,  could  and  did  echo  the  apostle's  sentiment, 
as  she  burst  out  in  the  uplifting  strain ; 


176    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

"  My  cage  confines  me  round, 

Abroad  I  cannot  fly ; 
But  though  my  wing  is  closely  bound, 

My  heart's  at  liberty. 
My  prison  walls  cannot  control 

The  flight,  the  freedom  of  the  soul." 

Paul  recognized  that  his  sphere  was  restricted,  but 
he  faithfully  used  every  opportunity  which  he  had, 
and  we  all  see  how  the  work  expanded.  He  did  the 
best  he  could  under  the  circumstances,  and  his  labour 
was  not  in  vain  in  the  Lord.  There  are  chains  yet 
which  hamper,  but  which  need  not  destroy  our  use- 
fulness. 

I.  There  is,  for  instance,  the  chain  of  business. 
With  links  of  adamant  it  binds  us  to  store,  to  office, 
to  shop.  If  we  only  had  our  freedom,  we  sometimes 
say,  how  much  good  we  could  accomplish.  If  we 
could  spend  all  our  time  in  religious  work,  if  we 
could  devote  ourselves  exclusively  to  it,  or  at  least 
if  we  could  have  more  leisure  for  the  things  of  the 
kingdom,  we  would  be  encouraged  to  attempt  some- 
thing. There  is  where  we  make  our  mistake.  Paul 
did  not  constantly  lament  his  bonds,  but  he  worked 
out  to  the  length  of  his  chain,  he  did  all  he  could 
under  the  circumstances.  He  applied  himself  to  the 
conversion  of  his  guard,  and  as  this  was  changed 
daily,  he  had  different  soldiers  with  whom  to  talk 
and  pray.  But  it  was  one  at  a  time,  or  certainly  it 
was  only  a  few,  for  many  could  not  crowd  into  his 


Limited  Though  Ample  Opportunities    177 

lodging  or  into  his  cell.  Through  those  with  whom 
he  was  brought  into  immediate  contact,  from  soldier 
to  servant,  through  those  right  around  him  from  day 
to  day,  he  reached  out  after  others,  until  Caesar's 
household  and  not  improbably  Britain's  isle  thus 
learned  of  the  Gospel. 

The  Christian  merchant  or  manufacturer,  who  is 
bound  to  his  business,  can  yet  make  his  influence 
felt  for  Christ  upon  those  in  his  employ,  and  upon 
those  with  whom  he  has  dealings.  There  must  be 
opportunity  somewhere  to  speak  a  word  for  Jesus, 
or  at  any  rate  by  a  consistent  life  to  testify  to  the 
reality  of  religion.  Perhaps  if  any  are  confined  to 
their  office,  they  can  send  to  some  friend  a  letter 
indicating  a  tender  interest  in  his  spiritual  welfare. 
Though  they  may  be  tied  down  to  their  work,  there 
is  alongside  of  them,  at  the  same  bench  or  by  a 
neighbouring  machine,  some  one  whom  they  might 
induce  to  go  to  church,  or  might  persuade  to  become 
a  Christian.  Those,  whom  they  thus  reach,  may  be 
instrumental  in  saving  others,  and  influence  thus 
exerted  will  continue  in  ever-widening  circles  down 
the  future.  There  is  nothing  wrong  in  persons  being 
bound  up  in  their  business,  or  their  profession,  or 
their  work,  but  let  not  the  Word  of  God  be  bound, 
let  not  the  chain  grow  too  heavy  till  the  interior  life 
is  crushed  out  by  the  weight  of  care. 

Scripture  well  speaks  of  the  "  deceitfulness  of 
riches."     The   golden   fetters    may  seem  light  and 


178    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

harmless,  but  there  may  be  in  the  inordinate  pursuit 
of  the  material  the  fate  of  the  Roman  maiden, 
Tarpeia.  She  coveted  the  bracelets  of  the  Sabines, 
and  promised  to  betray  the  citadel  on  the  Capitoline 
Hill  to  them  for  "  what  they  wore  on  their  left  arms." 
She  opened  the  gate  at  night,  and,  as  they  passed 
through,  they  cast  upon  her  their  shields,  which  also 
they  carried  on  their  left  arms.  She  was  crushed 
thereby,  and  will  ever  remain  a  warning  against 
covetousness,  of  which  one  naturally  thinks  as  he 
stands  on  the  Tarpeian  Rock  in  the  ancient  city. 
We  may  think  that  in  getting  riches  or  in  our  efforts 
in  that  direction,  we  are  only  securing  golden  brace- 
lets, whereas  the  accumulations  of  years  or  our  con- 
tinuous endeavours  therefor  may  prove  a  veritable 
mountain  of  brass,  of  heaviest  metal,  to  overwhelm 
us  utterly  so  far  as  religion  is  concerned.  We  should 
be  careful  what  kind  of  a  chain  we  forge  for  our- 
selves, as  we  prosecute  our  business,  as  we  give  our- 
selves to  the  secular.  A  reasonable  degree  of  atten- 
tion thereto  is  proper,  but  we  should  leave  some  room 
for  what  is  of  eternal  interest.  In  the  midst  of  the 
worldly  we  should  not  altogether  cease  to  be  re- 
ligiously active.  Our  sphere  in  the  latter  respect 
may  be  restricted,  but  a  fine  opportunity  neverthe- 
less is  offered  for  Christian  usefulness,  if  we  do  the 
best  we  can,  while  we  receive  the  commendation 
bestowed  upon  the  woman  of  old,  "  She  hath  done 
what  she  could." 


Limited  Though  Ample  Opportunities    179 

2.  There  is  also  the  domestic  chain.  One  is 
kept  closely  to  the  house.  She  is  a  mother,  and  her 
children  take  most  of  her  time.  She  sometimes 
complains  of  her  humdrum  sort  of  existence.  If  she 
only  had  her  liberty,  she  feels  that  she  might  be  of 
some  account.  She  chafes  at  the  thought  of  so 
restricted  a  sphere.  She  grows  impatient  over  her 
lot.  She  aspires  to  something  grander  than  the 
care  of  little  ones,  and  she  is  anything  but  the 
Scriptural  ^^  joyful  mother  of  children."  She  forgets 
that  the  home  can  be  made  the  center  of  mighty 
influences  for  good,  if  she  does  not  rebel  against  the 
restraints  imposed  by  the  responsibilities  of  a  family. 
The  household  furnishes  a  field  for  the  exercise  of  the 
most  queenly  gifts  of  mind  and  heart.  There  are 
moulded  characters,  which  are  soon  to  shape  history. 
As  the  walls  of  Athens  are  said  to  have  fallen  before 
the  music  of  Dorian  flutes,  so  a  mother's  lullaby  gives 
easy  access  to  a  child's  innermost  being.  Along 
this  line  of  the  affectional  is  often  fought  the  battle 
which  determines  individual  destiny,  though  there  is 
no  sound  of  heavy  cannonading  but  only  of  sweetest 
music,  as  the  maternal  life,  in  gentle  influence,  is 
attuned  to  heavenly  harmony.  Mightier  than  great 
generals  are  consecrated  mothers  in  giving  direction 
to  human  lives  and  events. 

In  the  silent  but  steady  conquest  of  paganism  by 
Christianity,  Libanius,  the  most  literary  pagan  of  the 
fourth  century,  recognized  this,  when  upon  seeing 


l8o    The  Modem  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

the  influence  of  a  saintly  mother  upon  Chrysostom, 
the  golden-mouthed  Greek  preacher  of  his  generation, 
he  exclaimed,  "  Ah,  gods  of  Greece  !  what  wonder- 
ful women  there  are  among  the  Christians  ! "  The 
home  may  seem  a  contracted  sphere,  but  it  is  the 
very  center  of  all  radiating  influences  for  good.  The 
chain,  that  binds  to  the  household,  is  indeed  golden. 
There  may  be  bonds  in  domestic  duties,  there  may 
be  restraints,  but  the  word  of  God  need  not  be 
bound.  There  is  abundant  opportunity  for  the  high- 
est usefulness,  if  one  gracefully  accepts  the  situation. 
We  recall  how  the  beautiful  queen  of  Palmyra,  the 
renowned  Zenobia,  successfully  resisted  the  Roman 
arms  during  the  reign  of  two  emperors,  but  how  be- 
fore Aurelian  she  fled  defeated  on  her  fleet  drome- 
dary, and  how  she  was  overtaken,  and  how  she  was 
made  the  chief  attraction  in  the  imperial  triumph, 
appearing  in  the  long  and  splendid  procession  in  fet- 
ters of  gold.  There  was  grace  and  there  was  dignity 
in  her  answer  to  Aurelian,  who  sternly  inquired  why 
she  had  presumed  to  stand  out  against  his  predeces- 
sors :  "  Because  I  disdained  to  consider  them  as  Ro- 
man emperors,"  she  said,  while  she  added,  "  You 
alone  I  acknowledge  as  my  conqueror  and  my  sover- 
eign." She  was  a  prisoner,  but  a  gold  chain  encir- 
cling her  fair  neck  was  the  symbol  of  her  easy  captiv- 
ity. She  was  presented  with  an  elegant  villa  near 
the  capital,  where  as  a  loyal  subject  she  doubtless 
found  greater  enjoyment  than  as  a  queen  in  rebellion. 


Limited  Though  Ample  Opportunities    i8l 

She  became,  says  Gibbon,  "  a  Roman  matron,  her 
daughters  married  into  noble  families,  and  her  race' 
was  not  yet  extinct  in  the  fifth  century,"  two  hun- 
dred years  after  her  submission. 

Better  than  to  rebel  against  the  King  of  kings, 
who  is  worthy  of  obedience,  is  a  graceful  yielding  to 
Him,  and  to  the  obligations  imposed  by  Providence 
in  the  domestic  chain,  whose  every  link  is  love,  is 
pure  gold,  while  children  are  reared  for  the  kingdom 
of  the  truth,  the  blessing  of  God  descending  for  thou- 
sands of  generations  upon  such  as  fear  Him  and  keep 
His  commandments.  In  the  seclusion  of  the  home, 
in  domestic  bonds,  the  Christian  spirit  need  not  be 
fettered,  and  should  not  be,  when  immortal  souls  are 
directly  subject  to  the  maternal  influence,  which  is  so 
potent  for  good  or  for  evil.  The  sphere  of  useful- 
ness to  those  largely  confined  to  the  hearthstone  may 
be  and  is  restricted,  but  the  opportunity  nevertheless 
is  immense,  in  view  of  plastic  natures  which  can 
there  be  given  their  eternal  set,  in  view  of  everlasting 
destinies  which  there  can  be  determined. 


XIV 
A  Larger  Sphere 

NOTWITHSTANDING  what  has  been  said 
in  the  preceding  chapter,  that  we  should 
make  good  use  of  what  opportunities  we 
have,  there  are  ambitious  persons  who  still  long  for 
what  they  term  a  larger  sphere.  That  is  what  our 
aspiring  modern  man  wants.  That  is  what  the  chil- 
dren of  Joseph  in  Old  Testament  times  wanted.  In 
the  allotment  of  territory  after  the  conquest  of  Ca- 
naan, they  were  not  satisfied  with  their  portion, 
which  they  declared  to  be  "  too  narrow."  They  in- 
timated that  they  were  greater  than  the  other  tribes, 
and  the  argument  was  that  they  should  be  given  a 
correspondingly  larger  field  in  which  to  work  out 
their  destiny.  But  the  facts  and  figures  did  not  bear 
out  their  claim.  They  had  an  exaggerated  notion 
of  their  importance,  and  of  their  ability  to  accom- 
plish great  things.  They  did  not  sufficiently  appreci- 
ate the  opportunity  which  they  had. 

It  is  the  simple  truth  to  say  that  they  were  as- 
signed the  central  and  choicest  part  of  Palestine, 
where  there  was  the  greatest  fertility,  and  the  best 
supply  of  water.     There  were  very  rich  valleys  alter- 

182 


A  Larger  Sphere  183 

nating  with  the  hills,  but  they  were  dissatisfied,  and 
they  went  to  Joshua  with  their  complaint,  that  they 
were  not  as  highly  favoured  as  they  ought  to  be, 
that  their  abilities  were  too  much  restricted.  A  little 
more  modesty  on  their  part  would  have  been  becom- 
ing, and  somewhat  less  jealousy  of  others,  who  were 
imagined  by  them  to  have  fared  better.  But  the 
leader  of  Israel  took  them  at  their  own  estimate,  as 
he  said,  "  If  thou  be  a  great  people,  get  thee  up  to 
the  forest,  and  cut  down  for  thyself  there."  That  is, 
if  they  wanted  more  land,  they  could  have  it,  by 
clearing  it  up,  by  going  to  work  right  where  they 
were,  by  improving  what  they  had. 

There  is  mentioned  another  way  in  which  they 
could  have  enlargement.  The  plains  were  still  occu- 
pied with  the  Canaanites,  who  were  so  formidable  with 
their  iron  chariots  that  the  sons  of  Joseph  shrank  from 
proceeding  with  the  dispossessing  process  which  had 
been  bravely  begun.  They  were,  therefore,  urged 
to  conquer  completely  what  they  already  had  in  gen- 
eral. There,  it  was  implied,  was  a  place  where  their 
alleged  greatness  could  have  full  play  in  an  actual 
demonstration.  So  that  the  perhaps  rather  unpala- 
table advice  of  Joshua  to  the  boastful  petitioners  for 
more  territory  was.  Help  yourselves ;  you  have  your 
fair  share  now,  but  if  you  want  more,  get  it,  by  clear- 
ing up  the  mountainsides  at  present  covered  with 
forests,  and  by  driving  from  the  valleys  your  foes 
there  established,  whose  iron  chariots  must  be  dis- 


184    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

dained  by  so  great  a  people  as  you  are.  You  have 
land  enough,  they  were  told,  if  you  will  only  see  that 
it  is  properly  cleared  and  made  habitable :  cut  down 
the  forests  primeval,  and  cut  down  your  foes  on  the 
battle-field,  and  your  greatness  will  be  proven,  and 
your  enlargement  will  be  all  that  heart  could  wish. 

There  are  sons  of  Joseph  yet  who  feel  that  they 
are  underestimated,  and  who  spend  their  time  in 
sighing  for  a  larger  sphere,  whereas  they  should  do 
their  best  just  where  their  lot  happens  to  be  cast. 
Genuine  greatness  can  be  the  achievement  of  but 
few,  if  Arnold  of  Rugby  was  right  in  saying,  "  The 
three  great  objects  of  human  ambition  "  are  "  to  be 
the  prime  minister  of  a  great  kingdom,  the  governor 
of  a  great  empire,  or  the  writer  of  works  which 
should  live  in  every  age  and  in  every  country."  Not 
many  of  us  can  become  rulers  of  nations,  or  the 
powers  behind  the  throne,  or  authors  of  undying 
fame.  We  can  waste  much  time  in  fretting  because 
we  do  not  have  the  chance,  which  we  fancy  some 
one  else  has  for  rising  to  distinction.  We  can  build 
air  castles,  and  dream  dreams,  and  talk  about  our  re- 
stricted sphere  and  our  narrow  field  for  operations, 
but  the  practical  thing  for  us  to  do  is  to  accept  the 
situation  as  it  is,  and  to  do  what  we  can  under  the 
existing  conditions.  If  we  want  a  larger  sphere,  we 
can  enlarge  it  by  doing  our  best  where  for  the  time 
being  we  are  providentially  placed. 

I.     We  may  apply  this  truth,  first,  to  school  life. 


A  Larger  Sphere  185 

Shakespeare  paints  a  very  reaUstic  picture  when  he 
says  ill  lines  familiar  to  all : 

**  Then  the  whining  schoolboy,  with  his  satchel 
And  shining  morning  face,  creeping  like  snail 
Unwillingly  to  school." 

His  slow  pace  would  quicken  into  eager,  elastic  steps, 
and  he  would  fairly  jump,  if  he  were  on  his  way  td 
some  game.  There  is  too  often  reluctance  to  resume 
studying ;  the  opportunity  for  getting  an  education  is 
not  appreciated.  The  boy  longs  to  get  away  from 
books,  as  he  expresses  it,  into  real  life  where  he  can 
accomplish  something  that  is  worth  his  while.  A 
son  of  a  friend  of  mine  became  restive  in  his  enforced 
pursuit  of  knowledge,  and  he  ran  away  from  a  most 
excellent  home,  that  he  might  exchange  mental 
drudgery  for  physical  freedom,  but  exposure  and  in- 
ability to  get  work  and  to  make  money  brought  him 
to  his  senses,  and  he  was  finally  glad  to  have  his 
father  telegraphed  for  the  means  to  get  back.  He, 
however,  still  talked  about  his  intention  of  earning 
his  living  by  his  brawny  muscles.  That  he  might 
have  a  little  experience  of  what  he  longed  for  he  was 
set  to  work  during  his  vacation  as  a  section  hand  on 
the  railroad,  and  he  was  put  through  in  good  shape 
every  day,  and  he  was  glad  enough  of  rest  and  sleep 
each  night,  and  the  result  was  that  the  glamour  of 
bread-winning  by  the  sweat  of  his  brow  disappeared. 
When  fall  came,  he  very  willingly  took  his  place  in 


i86    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

the  high  school,  and  after  that  he  pursued  a  col- 
legiate course  with  great  satisfaction. 

Many  young  people  are  foolishly  uneasy  in  school, 
they  are  eager  to  get  out  into  the  busy  world  where 
they  can  make  their  mark,  but  a  practical  trial  would 
disabuse  them  of  their  ability  to  succeed  without  an 
education.  Of  course,  there  are  exceptions  to  the 
rule,  but  generally  one  gains  every  way  by  taking 
time  to  train  the  mind.  And  yet  not  infrequently 
there  is  a  confident  youth,  who  thinks  he  does  not 
have  a  chance  to  show  in  the  contracted  schoolroom 
the  stuff  of  which  he  is  made.  If  he  could  only  get 
into  business,  or  go  on  a  farm  or  to  sea,  he  would  be 
a  most  marked  success.  He  should  demonstrate 
what  he  can  do  where  he  is.  What  he  needs  is  a 
realizing  sense  of  what  he  can  accomplish  as  a 
student,  if  he  will  only  apply  himself.  He  may  re- 
peatedly get  in  the  woods  intellectually,  but  let  him 
hew  down  the  forests.  Sometimes  there  may  seem 
to  be  arrayed  against  him  whole  hosts  of  difficulties 
with  iron  chariots,  but  these  can  be  swept  away. 

Even  the  naturally  dull  can  do  wonders  by  patient 
continuance.  That  distinguished  English  teacher, 
Thomas  Arnold,  came  to  have  a  profound  respect  for 
what  he  termed  "  the  mere  plodding  boy."  He  had 
once,  he  said,  become  impatient  at  such  a  one,  and 
had  spoken  sharply  to  him,  who  replied,  "  Why  do 
you  speak  angrily,  sir  ? — indeed  I  am  doing  the  best 
that  I  can."     The  grieved  look  showed  the  honesty 


A  Larger  Sphere  187 

of  this  answer  of  the  pupil,  and  years  afterwards 
Dr.  Arnold  said,  "  That  look  and  that  speech  I  have 
never  forgotten."  It  was  in  view  of  this  experience, 
which  doubtless  was  often  duplicated,  that  he  paid 
his  tribute  to  the  simple  plodder.  If  he  who  is  re- 
garded as  a  dullard  will  apply  himself,  if  he  who  does 
not  naturally  take  to  books  will  hold  himself  firmly 
to  his  appointed  tasks  along  educational  lines,  he  will 
make  at  least  a  comparative  success.  He  is  certain 
to  lay  the  foundations  of  a  more  substantial  record 
than  would  otherwise  be  his. 

The  fine  attainments  of  manhood  often  grow 
directly  out  of  something  creditably  done  in  one's 
school  days.  A  prize  essay,  for  instance,  by 
Macaulay  in  college  on  William  of  Orange  is  said 
to  have  suggested  the  subsequent  writing  of  the  im- 
mortal History  wherein  William  has  a  conspicuous 
place.  The  young  are  always  preparing  themselves 
for  something  better  when  they  give  themselves  un- 
flaggingly  to  their  studies.  He  who  fails  in  life  is 
the  braggart,  who  neglects  his  passing  educational 
opportunities  and  talks  about  the  wonderful  things 
he  is  going  to  do  when  he  gets  out  of  school. 
Thoroughness  in  early  life  makes  for  efficiency 
in  manhood ;  youthful  discipline  spells  subsequent 
success. 

2.  Keeping  purposely  to  the  ordinary  round  of 
life,  our  subject  has  also  an  application  to  business. 
One  ought  always  to  do  his  very  best  there,  however 


i88    The  Modem  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

low  down  he  may  start.  He  who  sweeps  the  office 
with  thoroughness  and  cheerfuhiess  is  more  hkely  to 
be  promoted  than  he  who  feels  the  menial  task  to 
be  beneath  him,  and  who  does  it  with  reluctance 
and  carelessness.  When  Montezuma  received  the 
tidings  of  his  election  to  the  Mexican  throne,  "  he 
was  found,"  says  Prescott,  "  sweeping  down  the 
stairs  in  the  great  temple  of  the  national  war-god." 
He  was  Uke  Cincinnatus,  who  was  summoned  from 
his  plow  to  the  dictatorship  of  ancient  Rome.  The 
call  to  a  higher  sphere  usually  comes  to  the  one  who 
is  busily  occupied,  and  who  is  doing  his  best  in  a 
lower  position.  The  painstaking  clerk  is  the  one 
who  after  a  while  is  taken  into  the  firm.  When  a 
person  talks  about  his  having  no  sort  of  a  position, 
that  he  is  no  partner  in  the  concern,  and  therefore 
he  does  not  care  if  he  does  slight  things,  he  is  not 
going  to  rise.  He  may  sigh  for  a  time  when  his 
ship  shall  come  in,  but  it  never  will.  He  may 
dream  of  coming  success  when  he  has  a  better  op- 
portunity, but  he  is  doomed  to  disappointment,  un-- 
less  he  hews  his  way  along,  unless  he  cuts  down  the 
forests  that  lie  immediately  before  him,  unless  he 
drives  his  chariot  like  Jehu  against  the  iron  chariots 
of  difficulty  in  the  valleys  along  which  he  struggles. 
Commercial  triumphs,  ships  of  trade  on  every  sea, 
are  the  rewards  of  none  but  the  toilsome. 

Illuminating  here  is  the  career  of  Magellan,  who 
gave   his   name  to  the  straits  southward  of  South 


A  Larger  Sphere  189 

America,  and  who  triumphed  over  the  Pacific,,  be- 
ing the  first  to  sail  across  its  broad  expanse,  and  as 
a  consequence  the  first  to  circumnavigate  the  earth. 
He  did  not  accompHsh  all  this  without  laborious 
and  even  painful  effort.  When  his  provisions  began 
to  grow  short,  his  men  wanted  to  return  home,  but 
he  declared  he  would  go  on,  "  if  he  had  to  eat  the 
leather  off  the  ship's  yards,"  and  he  and  his  follow- 
ers were  reduced  to  precisely  that  strait  before 
reaching  Asia.  He,  however,  effected  his  purpose, 
being  slain,  to  be  sure,  by  some  savage  islanders  in 
the  moment  of  his  victory,  but  not  till  his  ship  had, 
so  to  speak,  reached  port,  in  one  of  the  Philippines, 
his  followers  afterwards  completing  the  circuit  of  the 
globe.  If  one's  ship,  of  which  he  sometimes  talks, 
is  going  to  come  in,  or  is  even  to  go  out,  there  must 
be  a  strong  hand  steadily  at  the  helm.  No  hap- 
hazard attention  to  business  in  its  initial  stages  can 
lead  up  to  success. 

It  is,  therefore,  a  sound  maxim  as  well  as  a  re- 
ligious duty  not  to  slight  work  that  may  not  be 
exactly  to  one's  taste.  It  is  folly,  and  it  is  wicked, 
for  him  to  be  discontented  and  negligent  and  un- 
faithful in  the  humbler  stations,  while  there  is  an 
idle  wishing  for  some  position  where  he  can  prove 
that  he  has  business  capacity.  He  is  to  work  up 
from  where  he  is  to  where  he  wants  to  be.  He  is 
to  achieve  success  in  his  narrower  sphere,  and  a 
wider  one  is  certain  to  follow.     By  always  doing  his 


190    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

best,  he  will  have  a  fairer  prospect  of  promotion,  and 
a  surer  passport  to  ultimate  success. 

3.  Again,  not  to  go  far  afield  but  to  confine  our- 
selves to  a  circle  wherein  we  have  hitherto  moved, 
the  truth  being  developed  should  be  operative  in  the 
home:     A  sacred  poet  has  said  : 

*'  The  trivial  round,  the  common  task, 
Will  furnish  all  we  ought  to  ask." 

Many  a  woman  chafes  at  the  drudgery  to  which  she 
feels  that  she  is  tied  down,  and  she  goes  about  the 
house  with  a  querulous  spirit,  as  if  she  did  not  have 
an  equal  chance  in  the  world  with  others.  She  gets 
the  masculine  idea  of  having  no  opportunity,  unless 
there  is  something  big  to  rouse  her  energies.  She 
laments  that  by  her  very  sex  she  is  shut  out  from 
most  of  the  openings  which  have  any  attraction,  and 
in  which  alone  is  there  any  prospect  of  realizing  her 
destiny.  She  does  not  have  a  sufficient  appreciation 
of  the  noble  sphere  which  is  hers.  By  a  Christian 
graciousness  and  love  she  can  create  about  her  an 
atmosphere  that  will  be  mentally  and  spiritually 
stimulating,  and  she  can  thus  shape  characters  for 
eternity.  By  cultivating  a  spirit  of  contentment 
and  thankfulness,  by  minimizing  the  evil  there  is 
in  others  and  magnifying  the  good,  by  dwelling  in 
thought  upon  the  manifold  blessings  of  Hfe,  by  look- 
ing on  the  brighter  rather  than  the  darker  side  of 
things,  by  esteeming  it  a  privilege  to  influence  im- 


A  Larger  Sphere  191 

mortal  souls,  by  planning  better  and  better  things 
for  the  family, — in  such  ways  can  the  household  be 
made  a  sphere  large  enough  for  the  utiHzation  of  tlie 
highest  talents. 

This  is  happily  illustrated  in  Tennyson's  story  of 
the  '•  Princess,"  who  said : 

'*  O  I  wish 
That  I  were  some  great  princess,  I  would  build 
Far  off  from  men  a  college  like  a  man's." 

She  talked  much  of  "ladies'  rights,"  and  she  founded 
her  university,  from  whose  grounds  those  of  the 
male  sex  were  excluded  by  a  threatened  penalty 
of  death.  She  became  a  misanthrope,  cold  and  hard 
in  her  nature, 

"  And  sweet  girl-graduates  in  their  golden  hair," 

to  use  the  poet's  well-known  line,  could  never  have 
come  from  her  tuition.  Such  a  one,  while  gaining 
fame  perhaps,  yet  missed 

**  Meanwhile,  what  every  woman  counts  her  due, 
Love,  children,  happiness." 

Fortunately  the  princess  herself  eventually  became  a 
convert  to 

*' Sweet  household  talk,  and  phrases  of  the  hearth," 

and  then 

"  The  dew 
Dwelt  in  her  eyes,  and  softer  all  her  shape 
And  rounder  seemed." 


192    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

We  need  to  read  and  reread  Tennyson's  "  Princess  " 
for  the  portrayal  therein  of  the  home  as  a  sufficient 
sphere  for  the  most  aspiring  of  the  gentler  sex.  In- 
stead of  sighing,  "  O  that  I  were  some  great  prin- 
cess/' one  can  be  a  princess  of  the  finer  mould,  along 
the  line  of  domesticity.  It  is  to  homes  made  in  this 
spirit  that  strong  men  look  back  with  grateful  recog- 
nition of  their  influence  in  shaping  the  lives,  which 
they  have  been  enabled  to  live,  to  the  benefit  of 
society  and  perhaps  to  the  adorning  of  history. 

4.  Once  more,  steadily  holding  ourselves  to  the 
prosaic  round  of  life,  the  principle  under  discussion 
applies  to  the  church.  There  are  those  who  have 
great  aspirations,  and  who  would  like  to  be  set  to 
work  where  their  talents  could  be  made  properly 
available.  And  yet  they  may  not  be  giving  them- 
selves to  the  ordinary  activities  of  the  Christian  life. 
If  there  could  be  some  new  scheme  of  religious  prop- 
agandism  under  their  leadership,  they  might  be 
brought  into  active  service.  But  some  of  us  are 
feeling  that  Christianity  is  already  sufficiently  organ- 
ized, or  at  least  that  only  one  more  organization  is 
needed,  and  that  one  to  prevent  the  formation  of  any 
other  societies.  People  should  respond  to  the  sug- 
gestion to  move  out  along  the  lines  of  existing  insti- 
tutions. Let  them  enter  into  the  present  activities  of 
the  church.  There  is  outlet  enough  now  for  the 
abilities  lying  dormant  in  any  community.  And 
then  those,  who  have  already  become  identified  with 


A  Larger  Sphere  193 

this  and  that  branch  of  the  work,  can  still  further  im- 
prove matters  by  putting  more  of  themselves  into 
that  at  present  engaging  their  attention.  One  may- 
be fitted  for  a  more  responsible  position  than  he 
has  in  the  kingdom,  but  he  should  not  repine.  He 
should  rather  fill  so  vi^ell  the  sphere  which  for  the 
time  being  is  his  that  he  will  be  called  higher.  To 
any  thinking  they  could  accomplish  something  for 
the  Master  if  they  had  the  chance,  the  advice  is.  Im- 
prove the  opportunities  you  have  in  connection  with 
the  organized  church.  *'  If  thou  be  a  great  people, 
get  thee  up  to  the  forest,  and  hew  down  for  thyself 
there."  Persons  can  have  a  clear  field  by  clearing 
it  themselves. 

They  may  not  be  sufficiently  appreciated  and  ad- 
vanced, but  they  can  win  positions  for  themselveSf 
and  all  the  more  if  they  are  left  to  their  own  re- 
sources and  outgoing  energies,  if  without  encourage- 
ment and  help  they  work  to  the  front  by  pure  merit. 
They  can  have  the  experience  of  the  famous  Black 
Prince  at  the  battle  of  Crecy  in  1 346.  He,  with  a 
much  less  force,  found  himself  confronted  by  one 
hundred  thousand  Frenchmen,  and  being  hard 
pressed  he  asked  his  father,  Edward  the  Third  of 
England,  to  support  him  with  the  reserve.  But  the 
monarch,  watching  the  conflict  from  a  distance,  de- 
clined to  move  to  the  son's  assistance,  because  he 
saw  that  there  was  no  such  necessary  emergency. 
He  simply  replied,  "  Let  the  boy  win  his  spurSy  for, 


194    The  Modem  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

if  God  will,  I  desire  that  this  day  be  his,  and  that  all 
the  honour  of  it  shall  remain  with  him  and  those  to 
whom  I  have  given  him  in  charge."  The  Prince 
did  win,  gaining  a  most  decisive  victory,  thereby 
coming  to  the  front  in  English  history.  If  one  is 
capable  of  greater  things,  and  he  iSy  let  him  win  his 
spurs  where  he  is,  and  the  King  of  kings  will  advance 
him,  and  will  bestow  upon  him  eternal  honour  and 
reward,  in  accordance  with  the  religious  success  that 
may  have  been  won. 


XV 

Commendatory  Letters:    Worth -While 
Testimonials  of  Things  Achieved 

THE  most  tremendous  problem  which  one 
can  face  is  when  he  seeks  to  determine  hu- 
man destinies,  to  mould  the  hves  of  others 
for  the  kingdom.  We  are  to  show  how  this  can  be 
done,  and  how  a  person  can  thus  gain  testimonials 
that  are  worth  while,  because  they  testify  both  to  his 
own  genuineness  and  to  the  highest  efficiency  which 
can  possibly  be  his.  Here  is  where  every  man,  who 
wishes  to  count  for  the  most,  has  his  greatest  oppor- 
tunity. He  can  enter  the  apostle's  "  great  door  and 
effectual,"  where  he  can  make  his  life  sublime  by 
leaving  his  impress  on  other  personalities.  There 
are  in  lives,  that  he  may  have  helped  to  shape,  testi- 
monials of  which  he  need  not  be  ashamed.  This  is 
what  Paul  meant  when  he  said  of  his  Corinthian  con- 
verts, "  Ye  are  our  epistle,  written  in  our  hearts, 
known  and  read  of  ail  men ;  being  made  manifest 
that  ye  are  an  epistle  of  Christ,  ministered  by  us, 
written  not  with  ink,  but  with  the  Spirit  of  the  living 
God ;  not  in  tables  of  stone,  but  in  tables  that  are 
hearts  of  flesh." 

195 


196    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

It  is  sometimes  said  that  church-membership  does 
not  figure  at  all  in  the  determination  of  one's  com- 
mercial standing.  His  habits,  his  associations,  and 
various  items  are  taken  into  account,  but  it  is  not 
asked  if  he  is  a  professing  Christian.  A  church  let- 
ter, it  is  averred,  would  not  assist  him  in  the  least  at 
the  counter  of  any  bank  in  the  country.  Probably 
these  are  exaggerated  asseverations,  but  it  is  un- 
fortunate if  they  are  in  any  degree  true,  as  they  very 
likely  are.  They  perhaps  indicate  a  too  great  laxity 
in  ecclesiastical  discipline.  At  any  rate,  it  cannot  be 
doubted  that  church- membership  is  not  made  to 
mean  enough.  A  letter  too  often  commends  an  un- 
worthy character.  Possibly  the  venerable  Leonard 
Bacon  was  right  when  he  used  to  say  to  us,  who 
were  his  students  at  Yale,  that  it  should  some- 
times read :  "  In  good  and  regular,  but  by  no  means 
high  standing." 

Still  it  is  difficult  to  maintain  the  exalted  standard, 
which  would  be  desirable,  in  an  organization  that  is 
designed  to  help  the  weak  and  erring  and  sinful. 
The  apostle's  glorification  of  charity  or  love  as  the 
supreme  virtue,  and  the  Master's  caution  against  re- 
moving the  tares  lest  the  wheat  also  be  rooted  out, — 
these  considerations  may  have  made  the  church  more 
careful  than  she  should  be  in  dealing  with  offenders, 
whose  inconsistencies  are  not  glaring.  It  can  hardly 
be  questioned,  however,  that  a  greater  effort  should 
be  made  to  have  the  church  more  nearly  approximate 


Commendatory  Letters  197 

the  gospel  ideal,  '•  holy  and  without  blemish."  Nev- 
ertheless, in  apostolic  times,  church  letters  did  not  al- 
ways signify  what  they  should.  They  were  fre- 
quently more  complimentary  than  truthful,  till  Paul 
ceased  to  carry  with  him  to  a  new  field  the  certifi- 
cates which  it  was  customary  to  grant.  The  flatter- 
ing epistles  of  recommendation  were  so  often  false 
that  to  his  mind  they  became  well-nigh  worthless. 
He  seems  to  have  been  challenged  to  produce  the 
ordinary  testimonials  of  the  day,  the  formal  resolu- 
tions which  were  common.  To  such  an  apparent 
demand  he  wrote  to  the  Corinthian  Christians  that 
he  had  better  credentials.  "  Ye  are  our  epistle,"  he 
said,  "  written  in  our  hearts,  known  and  read  of  all 
men." 

In  view  of  the  low  estimation  in  which  church 
letters  are  frequently  held  now,  we  need  to  be  able 
to  appeal  to  something  more  conclusive.  It  is  not 
sufficient  to  have  our  names  on  the  roll  of  church- 
membership.  "  Faith  without  works  is  dead,"  is  the 
old  test  which  at  present  is  very  properly  being  in- 
sisted upon.  When  we  can  point  to  souls  that  we 
have  been  instrumental  in  saving,  the  world  will 
recognize  their  validity,  the  force  of  such  an  argu- 
ment. There  is  nothing  which  so  convinces  of  the 
truth  as  a  walking,  living  epistle.  Very  remarkable 
is  the  telephone,  by  which  we  can  talk  at  a  distance, 
but  more  wonderful  is  a  letter  which  has  hands  and 
feet,  which  can  be  sent  hither  and  thither  without 


198    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

guiding  poles.  Every  person  converted  through  our 
influence  is  such  an  epistle  recommending  our  relig- 
ion to  others.  It  is  a  letter  whose  impression  we 
retain  on  our  own  heart,  we  are  conscious  of  having 
led  such  a  one  to  the  Saviour ;  and  it  is  a  letter 
which  going  here  and  there  is  known  of  all  men. 

Present  the  usual  church  letters  to  people,  and 
that  does  not  settle  for  them  the  question  of  the  re- 
ality of  our  religion  ;  but  show  them  some  drunkard 
we  have  saved,  refer  them  to  some  professional  man 
to  whose  life  we  have  given  an  entirely  different  di- 
rection, name  some  young  person  we  have  rescued 
from  the  ways  of  sin,  and  such  evidence  cannot  be 
rejected.  So  that  souls  saved  through  our  instru- 
mentality are  the  commendatory  letters  from  us,  which 
the  world  desires  to  see.  Can  we  adduce  for  scep- 
tical minds  such  credentials  ?  Is  there  a  solitary  in- 
dividual in  whose  salvation  we  have  humbly  wrought 
with  God  ?  Here  is  a  test  for  ascertaining  if  we  are 
true  Christians,  and  for  proving  to  others  that  we  are. 

Benjamin  Frankhn  is  said  to  have  tried  to  persuade 
the  farmers  of  his  day  that  plaster  would  enrich  the 
soil.  He  failed  to  convince  them,  till  with  this  ferti- 
lizer by  the  roadside  he  formed  a  sentence.  The 
wheat  came  up  in  luxuriant  letters  of  green,  and 
every  passer-by  could  read  in  raised  characters, 
*'  This  Has  Been  Plastered."  All  around  us  should 
be  converts  of  ours,  each  of  whom  should  bear  the 
inscription,   "  Our  Epistle."     Such   commendatory 


Commendatory  Letters  199 

letters  we  all  should  be  able  to  produce,  and  the 
process  of  their  production  should  be  noted. 

I.  First  of  all,  in  letter-writing,  there  must  be  the 
paper,  or  the  prepared  surface  upon  which  the  inky 
impressions  are  made.  The  ten  commandments  were 
inscribed  upon  tables  of  stone,  to  which  there  is  an 
allusion  in  the  language,  "  not  in  tables  of  stone,  but 
in  tables  that  are  hearts  of  flesh."  That  upon  which 
people  have  written  has  varied  with  the  age  and 
country.  Gracing  the  shelves  of  many  a  modern 
Museum  are  volumes  of  baked  bricks,  which  stood 
in  Assyrian  and  Egyptian  libraries  six  to  fifteen  hun- 
dred years  before  the  Christian  era.  The  plastic  clay 
after  receiving  the  cuneiform  inscriptions  was  hard- 
ened by  heat,  to  preserve  for  future  generations  the 
deeds  of  the  past.  In  New  Testament  times  the  tab- 
let neither  of  stone  nor  of  brick  was  used,  but  the 
skins  of  animals  were  manufactured  into  a  fine  vellum, 
or  the  reeds  of  the  Nile  were  converted  into  papyrus, 
rudely  resembling  and  leading  up  to  our  modern 
paper. 

The  apostle  institutes  a  comparison  between  the 
heart  and  the  ancient  table  of  stone  upon  which  the 
finger  of  God  wrote  the  decalogue  on  the  mount, 
after  the  manner  of  the  inscriptions  on  the  Rosetta 
Stone  in  the  British  Museum,  and  on  the  Moabite 
Stone  in  the  Louvre  at  Paris,  and  on  that  stone  which 
archaeology  has  recently  discovered,  and  which  con- 
tains a  code   of  laws   by   Hamurrabi,  who    reigned 


200    The  Modem  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

nine  hundred  years  before  Moses,  and  who,  about 
2200  B.  c,  antedated  Abraham  himself.  "  I  will 
take  away  the  stony  heart,"  says  Ezekiel,  "  and  I 
will  give  you  an  heart  of  flesh."  God  causes  the  sur- 
face upon  which  religious  impressions  are  to  be  made 
to  be  soft  and  tender.  He  prepares  the  heart  for  the 
divine  writing.  He  renders  the  very  brick  plastic 
clay,  into  which  arrows  of  conviction  sink,  making 
cuneiform  (arrow-headed)  inscriptions  indeed.  He 
makes  the  soul  as  susceptible  to  truth  as  delicate 
vellum  or  papyrus  is  to  ink.  He  in  short  furnishes 
the  clean  paper,  the  new  heart,  for  this  spiritual  letter- 
writing. 

There  is  an  analogy  between  the  preparation  of  the 
heart  and  the  manufacture  of  paper.  Of  the  many 
paper  mills  of  the  country,  enter  a  single  one  of  them, 
turning  out  every  day  a  white  roll  one  hundred  and 
forty  miles  long,  and  what  is  seen  ?  Quantities  of 
wood  pulp,  tons  of  coarse  rye  straw,  bales  of  filthy 
rags.  It  would  never  be  imagined  that  from  such 
unpromising  materials  could  come  the  polished  quires 
and  reams  upon  which  are  written  our  messages  of 
love.  Wonderful  are  the  processes  of  inventive 
genius  bringing  about  such  a  transformation.  The 
rags,  for  instance,  the  most  repulsive  of  all  the  com- 
bining elements,  are  cut  into  small  bits  and  cleared 
of  dust  on  rapidly  revolving  cylinders,  are  subjected 
to  chemical  baths  which  render  them  colourless  and 
which  subdue  the  fibre,  and  eventually   they  unite 


Commendatory  Letters  201 

with  the  renovated  straw  and  wood-pulp  to  form,  as 
a  great  Daily  has  said,  "  beautiful,  light- blue  foam  or 
suds,"  which  are  run  through  a  wire  screen,  which  are 
pressed  and  rolled,  until  they  come  out  pure,  white 
paper.  The  rags  become  a  metropolitan  newspa- 
per, they  become  a  handsome  book,  they  go  flying 
through  the  mail  in  charming  epistolary  missives  all 
over  the  world.  It  hardly  seems  possible  that  filthy 
rags  could  be  converted  into  that  smooth,  glossy  sur- 
face upon  which  we  write  our  letters,  and  yet  they  can 
be  and  are  by  what  is  termed  •*  a  complicated  series 
of  washings,  and  bleachings,  and  churnings,  and 
boiUngs." 

The  human  heart  by  mysterious  processes  of  grace 
goes  through  similar  cleansings,  and  emerges  from 
them  a  new  heart  upon  which  can  be  written  most 
effectively  the  w^ords  of  God.  But  Omnipotence 
alone  can  work  this  marvellous  change.  Isaiah  says : 
'«  We  are  all  as  an  unclean  thing,  and  all  righteous- 
nesses are  as  filthy  rags,"  but  from  such  pollution 
God  brings  clean,  renovated  natures.  Out  of  all 
that  is  mean  and  wretched  and  debased  in  humanity 
He  can  make  new  creatures,  even  as  out  of  wood- 
pulp  and  straw  and  rags  can  be  manufactured  the 
finest,  ivory-finished  paper.  He  turns  hearts  of  stone 
into  those  of  flesh,  upon  which  religious  impressions 
are  easily  made,  upon  which  can  be  written  very 
readily  our  letters  of  commendation. 

Have  we  any  of  these  living  epistles  testifying  to 


202    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

the  reality  of  the  religion  we  profess  ?  Are  there  any 
conversions  which  under  God  can  be  attributed  to 
our  influence  ?  We  ought  to  be  able  to  say  of  some 
as  Paul  did,  "  Ye  are  our  epistle."  We  ought  to 
have  such  clear,  undoubted  evidence  that  we  are 
faithful  Christians.  "  By  their  fruits  ye  shall  know 
them,"  not  by  the  church  roll,  not  by  certificate  of- 
church-membershlp,  but  by  living  epistles,  by  the 
converts  which  we  have  made.  We  should  be 
stimulated  by  this  thought  to  greater  activity.  To 
be  sure,  it  seems  a  hopeless  task  for  us  to  make  any 
religious  impression  upon  cold  and  indifferent  and 
hard  and  even  wicked  hearts.  But  God  prepares  the 
tablet,  though  it  be  of  stone  or  brick.  He  furnishes 
the  clean,  sensitive  paper  out  of  very  rags,  out  of  the 
most  unpromising  elements. 

2.  There  will  be  farther  encouragement,  if  we 
consider  next  who  writes  the  letters.  It  certainly  is 
not  ourselves,  for  they  are  epistles  of  commendation, 
and  it  would  not  be  proper  for  us  to  write  our  own 
recommendation.  The  apostle  says,  "  being  made 
manifest  that  ye  are  an  epistle  of  Christ,  ministered  by 
us."  Every  conversion  to  which  we  stand  personally 
related  is  a  kind  of  testimonial  which  we  bear  about, 
but  which  after  all  is  written  by  the  Lord.  What 
wondrous  letters  He  does  write !  Never  man  so 
spake,  and  never  man  so  wrote. 

It  has  generally  been  supposed  that  the  Master's 
teaching  was  wholly  oral.    There  is  only  one  reference 


Commendatory  Letters  203 

in  the  gospel  narrative  to  His  writing,  and  that  is  in 
John  where  it  is  said  of  Him  on  one  occasion  that  He 
"  stooped  down,  and  with  his  finger  wrote  on  the 
ground."  Very  interesting  it  would  be  to  know  the 
words  thus  traced  in  the  dust  or  sand.  But  there  is 
no  record  of  what  was  then  and  there  written,  if  in- 
deed the  writing  (as  is  believed)  was  not  merely  me- 
chanical, without  any  actual  formation  of  words. 
Have  we,  then,  no  writing  of  His  ?  When  we  think 
of  Paul's  numerous  epistles  it  would  seem  strange 
if  the  apostle's  Lord  and  Master  never  wrote  a  letter. 
Did  He  ever? 

In  almost  all  the  Lives  of  Christ  there  is  an  allusion 
to  what  is  related  by  Eusebius,  the  church  historian 
who  died  about  340  A.  D.  As  early  as  that  prevailed 
the  tradition  that  Abgarus,  a  prince  of  Edessa,  being 
afflicted  with  some  malady  and  hearing  of  the  Lord's 
miracles,  wrote  Him  a  letter,  asking  Him  to  come  to 
his  relief,  and  promising  Him  for  the  persecution  of 
Jerusalem  freedom  and  peace  in  "  a  beautiful  and 
agreeable  city  which,"  such  was  the  royal  language, 
"  though  it  be  not  very  large,  will  be  sufficient  to 
supply  you  with  everything  that  is  necessary."  To 
this  reputed  invitation,  Christ  is  said  to  have  returned 
this  epistolary  reply  :  "  You  are  happy,  Abgarus,  thus 
to  have  believed  in  me  without  having  seen  me ;  for 
it  is  written  of  me  that  they  who  shall  see  me  will 
not  believe  in  me,  and  that  they  who  have  never  seen 
me  shall  believe  and  be  saved.     As  to  the  desire  you 


204    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

express  in  receiving  a  visit  from  me,  I  must  tell  you 
that  all  things  for  which  I  am  come  must  be  fulfilled 
in  the  country  where  I  am ;  when  this  is  done,  I 
must  return  to  him  who  sent  me.  And  when  I  am 
departed  hence,  I  will  send  to  you  one  of  my  dis- 
ciples, who  will  cure  you  of  the  disease  of  which  you 
complain,  and  give  life  to  you  and  to  those  that  are 
with  you."  Eusebius  states  that  he  found  this  in  the 
archives  of  Edessa.  But  the  authenticity  of  this 
letter,  though  defended  by  some  (by  Tillemont  and 
others),  has  been  denied  by  most. 

If  now  the  writing  upon  the  ground  was  not 
transcribed  and  preserved,  and  if  the  document, 
mentioned  by  the  ecclesiastical  writer  of  the  fourth 
century,  must  be  pronounced  a  forgery,  have  we  no 
letter  of  the  Lord  ?  Certainly,  for  says  Paul  to  the 
Corinthian  Christians,  **  ye  are  an  epistle  of  Christ." 
Upon  every  converted  soul,  upon  the  tablet  of  every 
renewed  heart,  He  writes.  We  can  read  the  living 
characters  which  He  traces.  Very  legibly  stands  out 
this  sentence  as  recorded  in  the  prophecy  of  Jere- 
miah :  "  The  sin  of  Judah  is  written  with  a  pen  of 
iron,  and  with  the  point  of  a  diamond,  it  is  graven 
upon  the  table  of  their  heart."  The  great  fact  of  sin 
is  that  which  Christ  impresses  first  of  all  upon  the 
human  heart.  He  imparts  the  consciousness  of  guilt. 
He  engraves  with  the  point  of  a  diamond  into  the 
quivering  soul,  Thou  hast  sinned.  But  there  is  some- 
thing  more  to  this  letter  which  He  writes  in  the 


Commendatory  Letters  205 

breast  of  humanity.  The  revelation  oisin  is  followed 
by  that  of  redemption ^  as  we  learn  from  Job  who 
says : 

*'  Oh  that  my  words  were  now  written  ! 
Oh  that  they  were  inscribed  in  a  book ! 
That  with  an  iron  pen  and  lead 
They  were  graven  in  the  rock  forever  ! 
For  I  know  that  my  Redeemer  liveth." 

When  the  great  thought  of  immortality  first  dawned 
upon  the  patriarch,  when  the  glorious  doctrine  of 
salvation  was  wrought  out  in  his  experience,  he  was 
afraid  the  blessed  truth  would  be  lost,  unless  it  were 
written  with  an  iron  pen  in  everlasting  rock,  in  im- 
perishable stone.  He  did  not  realize  apparently  that 
multitudes  of  redeemed  souls  would  have  as  vivid  a 
sense  of  the  Saviour  as  himself. 

Now  we  are  the  pens  which  Christ  uses  to  impress 
these  two  great  facts  of  sin  and  redemption  upon  the 
human  heart.  With  us  as  instruments  He  writes  His 
letters  upon  precious  souls,  His  letters  containing  the 
two  revelations  of  lost  and  saved.  We  should  be 
able  to  name  persons  upon  whom  through  us  Christ 
has  wrought  conviction  of  sin  and  assurance  of  par- 
don. These  are  the  testimonials  which  we  should 
seek  to  bear  witness  to  the  genuineness  of  our  Chris- 
tianity. If  we  can  present,  not  a  letter  of  the  church, 
but  an  "  epistle  of  Christ,"  not  a  religious  certificate, 
but  a  religious  person  as  the  fruit  of  our  activity,  if 
we   can   show   such   credentials,  the   world  will  be 


2o6    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

forced  to  take  knowledge  of  us  that  we  have  been 
with  Jesus,  and  seeing  our  good  works  to  glorify  our 
Father  in  heaven.  We  should,  therefore,  seek  to  be 
iron  pens  with  diamond  points  in  the  hands  of  the 
master  letter-writer  of  the  universe. 

3.  One  more  need  is  indicated  by  these  words  : 
«'  written  not  with  ink,  but  with  the  Spirit  of  the 
living  God."  We  shall  be  useless  as  pens  without 
that  influence  from  above  flowing  through  us,  with- 
out heavenly  grace  conveyed  through  us  as  channels, 
without  an  outpouring  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  What 
ink  the  divine  is !  superior  to  any  vegetable  or  ani- 
mal or  silver  or  gold  ink  of  which  we  read.  Says 
Byron : 

*'  A  small  drop  of  ink 
Falling,  like  dew  upon  a  thought,  produces 
That  which  makes  thousands,  perhaps  millions,  think.** 

Not  that  the  convictions  produced  are  always  clear 
at  first.  They  may  lie  concealed  for  a  while.  There 
is  such  a  commodity  as  sympathetic  ink,  which 
makes  no  visible  marks  upon  the  paper  till  heat  is 
applied,  when  the  letters  come  out  distinct.  So  it  is 
with  the  ink  of  the  Spirit,  shed  from  us  as  pens  upon 
some  soul.  The  convictions  which  we  secure  may 
not  come  out  so  as  to  be  really  seen,  until  there  is  the 
heat  of  some  revival  or  of  some  trial,  and  then  the 
sympathetic  ink,  by  which  impressions  have  been 
made,  develops  in  a  manner  to  be  read  by  all.  If 
only  we  have  the  proper  spiritual  equipment,  if  only 


Commendatory  Letters  207 

we    are   divinely    inspired,   we   shall   not   approach 
people  in  vain. 

If  the  poet  needs  inspiration,  much  more  does  the 
disciple.  Pausanias  is  our  authority  for  this  story 
regarding  one  of  the  earliest  of  Greek  poets  :  "  It  is 
said  of  Pindar  that  when  he  was  a  young  man,  as  he 
was  going  to  Thespia,  being  wearied  with  the  heat, 
as  it  was  noon  and  in  the  height  of  summer,  he  fell 
asleep  at  a  small  distance  from  the  public  road ;  and 
that  bees,  as  he  was  asleep,  flew  to  him,  and  wrought 
their  honey  on  his  lips."  If  we  speak  the  Gospel 
with  the  sweet  unction  of  the  Spirit,  if  our  words  to 
the  unconverted  distill  like  honey,  if  the  appeal  be 
kind  and  tender  and  affectionate,  hearts  will  be  im- 
pressed. The  hard  pen  needs  the  gentle  flow  of  the 
ink.  Surely  with  God  to  furnish  the  paper,  to  pre- 
pare the  heart,  and  with  Christ  to  wield  us  as  instru- 
ments or  pens,  and  with  the  Holy  Spirit  like  ink  to 
leave  indelible  impressions,  we  need  not  be  lacking 
in  living  epistles  to  testify  to  our  Christian  character 
and  to  our  religious  efficiency. 


XVI 

The  Quest  of  the  Grail  and  of  the  Christ 

WE  reach  our  climacteric  in  the  challenging 
Christ.  Very  significantly  all  the  Lives 
of  Him,  outside  of  the  gospel  narratives, 
have  been  written  in  the  last  hundred  years.  To 
such  an  extent  has  He  arrested  the  attention  of  the 
modern  man,  of  him  more  than  of  persons  in  any 
other  century  of  the  Christian  era.  The  cry  of  Job 
has  been  that  of  the  human  heart,  "  Oh,  that  I  knew 
where  I  might  find  him  !  "  To  the  satisfying  of  that 
yearning,  writers  have  addressed  themselves  in  our 
day  as  never  before.  Many  have  heard  the  summons 
of  Herod,  in  a  deeper  sense  than  he  meant  the  com- 
mand, "  Go  and  search  out  exactly  concerning  the 
young  child."  In  our  concluding  chapter  we  are  to 
give  ourselves  to  the  quest,  symbolized  so  beautifully 
in  the  legend  of  the  Holy  Grail.  Our  course  of 
thought  would  be  incomplete  if  we  did  not  come 
face  to  face  with  the  transcendent  character,  the  most 
commanding  Personality,  of  all  history.  Was  there 
really  such  a  one  as  we  have  been  supposing  to  have 
been  the  motive  power  in  all  right  conduct  ?  Can 
we  clearly  determine  that  there  was  the  advent  of  the 
Messiah  ? 

208 


The  Quest  of  the  Grail  209 

It  is  worth  noting  that  His  coming  was  predicted 
by  inspired  prophets.  There  were  even  what  have 
been  called  the  unconscious  prophecies  of  heathen- 
ism. The  passages  of  Scripture  foretelling  the  great 
event  are  familiar,  and  need  not  be  cited.  The  long- 
ings of  pagan  hearts  for  a  divine  Redeemer  are  not 
so  well  known,  and  yet  these  feelings  have  been  ex- 
pressed in  language  hardly  less  striking  and  prophetic 
than  the  words  of  Holy  Writ  itself.  A  single  illus- 
tration will  suffice.  Forty  years  before  the  Christian 
era,  the  celebrated  Latin  poet,  Virgil,  wrote  these 
hnes,  which  seem  to  savour  of  a  true  inspiration  : 

"Lo  !  from  the  high  heavens 
Comes  a  new  seed  of  men.     .     .     . 
.     ,     .     The  child  shall  purge 
Our  guilt-stains  out,  and  free  the  land  from  dread. 
He  with  the  gods  and  heroes  like  the  gods 
Shall  hold  familiar  converse,  and  shall  rule 
With  his  great  Father's  spirit  the  peaceful  world. 

**^  t*  5j€  3|C  3^  3|C 

Come,  claim  thine  honours,  for  the  time  draws  nigh, 
Babe  of  immortal  race,  the  wondrous  seed  of  Jove ! 
Lo,  at  thy  coming  how  the  starry  spheres 
Are  moved  to  trembhng,  and  the  earth  below. 
And  wide-spread  seas,  and  the  blue  vault  of  heaven  ! 
How  all  things  joy  to  greet  the  rising  age  !  " 

Gibbon  says  that  Virgil's  fourth  eclogue,  from  which 
this  quotation  is  made,  "  contributed  to  the  conver- 
sion of  the  first  Christian  emperor,"  Constantine,  who 
considered  the  Roman  bard's  verses  as  among  the 


210    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

proofs  of  the  Gospel.  Very  remarkable  are  such 
sentiments  coming  from  a  pagan  less  than  a  half 
century  before  the  great  Child  Prince  was  born. 
But  was  the  hope  realized,  was  there  the  birth  of 
any  such  person  ?  Did  He,  the  anniversary  of  whose 
nativity  we  annually  observe,  actually  appear  on  the 
earth  ?  The  event  occurred,  if  at  all,  a  long  while 
ago.  Nineteen  centuries  constitute  a  tremendous 
chasm  for  human  belief  to  leap  with  much  con- 
fidence. May  it  not  all  be  a  mistake  about  Christ 
and  the  religion  He  is  said  to  have  established  by 
such  indubitable  signs  ? 

I.  First,  we  will  search  along  the  line  of  the 
historical.  We  will  all  admit  that  memorial  days 
rest  on  a  solid  basis.  We  would  not  celebrate  the 
Fourth  of  July  except  for  the  fact  of  national  inde- 
pendence proclaimed  in  1776.  Regarding  Him  whom 
Bethlelem  claims,  we  have  memorials  of  His  resurrec- 
tion in  Easter  and  of  His  birth  in  Christmas,  and 
either  of  these  anniversaries  can  be  traced  far  back. 
Confining  ourselves  to  the  latter,  can  we  by  search- 
ing ascertain  that  the  alleged  advent  of  the  Lord  was 
a  fact  ?  We  certainly  can.  If  we  traverse  the  cen- 
turies back  from  the  present,  we  discover  evidence 
of  Him  all  along  the  shining  way.  We  do  not  have 
any  doubt  about  the  coming  of  the  Pilgrims  to  our 
New  England  shore  in  December  of  1620.  Our 
annual  celebration  of  Forefathers'  Day  testifies  to 
the   actuality    of  the   landing    on    Plymouth   Rock. 


The  Quest  of  the  Grail  21 1 

We  would  not  enthuse  every  year  over  a  mere  fic- 
tion. We  are  at  a  remove  practically  of  three  cen- 
turies from  the  event,  but  our  ever-recurring  anni- 
versary shows  what  our  belief  is.  Can  we  trace 
back  the  observance,  commemorating  the  divine 
nativity,  till  we  are  as  near  to  Christ  as  we  are  to- 
day to  the  Pilgrims  ? 

There  will  be  no  question  about  recent  times,  and 
with  one  bound  we  go  back  to  1066.  As  long  ago 
as  that,  on  Christmas  in  that  eventful  year,  William 
the  Conqueror  after  the  epochal  battle  of  Hastings 
was  crowned  King  of  England.  That  is  a  matter 
of  record.  We  recall  again  that  historic  scene  of  the 
splendid  coronation  of  the  immortal  Charlemagne  in 
Rome,  and  we  are  informed  that  this  was  on  Christ- 
mas of  the  year  800.  More  than  a  thousand  years 
ago,  therefore,  the  nativity  of  Christ  was  undoubted. 
There  was  also  that  well-known  crisis  in  early  French 
history,  when  the  Prankish  King,  Clovis,  vowed  that 
if  he  gained  a  certain  battle  he  would  adopt  his 
wife's  religion  and  become  a  Christian,  and  he  did. 
France  has  never  forgotten  that  memorable  day 
when  the  proud  monarch  and  three  thousand  of  his 
warriors  and  a  great  many  women  and  children  were 
baptized.  When  did  this  occur  ?  On  Christmas, 
496  A.  D.  So  that  fourteen  hundred  years  ago  the 
birth  of  Christ  was  a  matter  of  commemoration  ;  so 
anciently  as  that  was  it  taken  for  granted  that  He 
had  been  born   in  human  conditions.     We  can  go 


2 1 2    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

still  farther  back,  even  to  the  year  386,  when  the 
golden-mouthed  Chrysostom  preached  a  sermon  at 
Antioch,  taking  as  his  subject  Christmas,  and 
though  it  appears  from  him  that  there  had  been 
some  variation  as  to  the  exact  date,  so  has  the 
Plymouth  anniversary  alternated  between  December 
the  twenty-first  and  the  twenty-second.  There  we 
are,  then,  with  a  Christmas  observance  about  as  near 
to  Christ  as  our  last  Forefathers*  Day  was  to  the 
beginnings  in  the  Old  Colony  on  the  Massachusetts 
coast.  We  have  thus  found  Him,  of  whom  Moses 
and  the  prophets  wrote,  by  working  gradually  back 
over  historic  ground. 

The  fact  is  that  Christianity  in  some  shape  or 
other  is  prominent  through  all  of  nineteen  centuries. 
Art  is  interwoven  with  Christian  thought.  Science 
revolves  about  the  sun  of  righteousness  and  the 
bright  and  morning  star,  as  its  relation  to  religion 
is  ever  eagerly  discussed.  Music  has  received  much 
of  its  inspiration  from  the  divine  Son,  whose  praises 
have  been  sung  in  hymn  and  oratorio.  Eliminate 
the  Master,  and  poetry  and  general  literature  would 
largely  lose  their  vital  elements.  Law  is  permeated 
with  the  principles  of  the  Gospel,  and  with  the  teach- 
ings of  Christ.  Political  revolutions  have  been  car- 
ried forward  with  a  momentum  that  came  from  an 
effort  to  approximate  the  ideal  kingdom  of  the 
truth.     Christianity  can  be  lost  sight  of  nowhere. 

Step  by  step  we  thus  get  back  to  the  very  begin- 


The  Quest  of  the  Grail  213 

ning,  and  there  not  Christians  only  but  pagans  also 
testify  to  the  great  fact  of  Christ,  and  of  Christianity. 
Pliny  the  Younger,  for  instance,  was  a  cultured 
heathen,  who  from  the  vicinity  of  the  Black  Sea 
wrote  some  letters  to  his  emperor  early  in  the  second 
century.  Did  he  make  any  reference  to  the  Chris- 
tians ?  He  gave  to  Trajan  this  picture  of  them : 
"  They  are  accustomed  to  meet  on  a  stated  day, 
before  sunrise,  and  to  repeat  among  themselves  a 
hymn  to  Christ  as  to  a  god."  Suetonius  about  the 
same  time  wrote  his  "  Lives  of  the  Caesars,"  and  did 
he  know  of  any  such  persons  as  Christ  and  the  Chris- 
tians ?  In  referring  to  a  banishment  of  Jews  from 
Rome,  he  says  it  was  because  they  were  "  continu- 
ally making  disturbances  at  the  instigation  of  one 
Chrestus,"  which  is  only  another  form  of  the  name 
Christus  or  Christ.  This  same  pagan  writer  else- 
where says  of  Nero  that  he  "  inflicted  punishments 
on  the  Christians,  a  sort  of  people  who  held  a  new 
and  impious  superstition."  Tacitus  is  another  clas- 
sical author,  who  is  Hnked  to  the  apostolic  age,  and 
he,  in  speaking  of  the  Neronian  persecution,  says 
that  the  emperor  "  punished  those  persons  who  were 
commonly  called  Christians.  .  .  .  This  name 
was  derived  from  one  Christus,  who  was  put  to 
death  as  a  criminal  by  Pontius  Pilate." 

Does  Christianity,  then,  have  a  historical  basis? 
Did  Christ  ever  live  on  the  earth  ?  "  Go  and  search 
out  exactly  concerning  the  young  child."     We  have 


214    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

thu&  searched  along  one  line,  the  historic,  and  we  are 
glad  to  learn  that  we  do  not,  as  Peter  says,  "  follow 
cunningly  devised  fables."  We  really  find  the  object 
of  our  search,  even  Him  whose  nativity  is  yearly  cel- 
ebrated. The  child,  whose  coming  Virgil  seems  to 
have  sung  no  less  than  Isaiah,  was  born  nineteen 
centuries  ago  in  Bethlehem,  and  was  the  founder  of 
a  reUgion  which  sings  jubilantly  : 

"  Glory  to  God  in  the  highest, 
And  on  earth  peace." 

2.  In  the  second  place,  we  can  prosecute  our 
search  not  only  along  the  historical  but  also  along 
the  experiential  line.  The  Lord  Himself  said  that 
if  we  would  do  His  will,  we  would  learn  of  the  doc- 
trine. We  can  find  Him  in  our  personal  experience, 
if  we  will  lead  Christlike  lives.  Under  such  circum- 
stances He  will  manifest  Himself  unto  us  as  He  does 
not  unto  the  world.  We  are  taught  this  by  the 
fascinating  tale  of  the  Holy  Grail,  whose  quest  has 
ever  been  the  inspiration  of  poets. 

When  with  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  the  dis- 
ciples were  scattered  abroad,  Joseph  of  Arimatliea  is 
said  to  have  gone  first  to  Gaui  or  France.  Spread- 
ing the  gospel  story  there,  he  heard  of  the  need  in 
pagan  Britain,  for  which  he  sailed.  He  made  his 
way  to  what  was  then  the  lovely  island  of  Avalon, 
since  called  Glastonbury.  Arriving  the  night  before 
Christmas,  he  thrust  into  the  ground  his  thornwood 
staff,  which  he  had  carried  all  the  way  from  Palestine. 


The  Quest  of  the  Grail  215 

Awaking  on  the  morning  of  the  anniversary  of  the 
Lord's  nativity,  he  was  astonished  to  see  that,  Hke 
Aaron's  rod  which  budded,  his  staff  had  miraculously 
blossomed.  He  naturally  decided  to  build  on  the 
sacred  spot  a  church,  which  became  the  Mother 
Church  of  England.  This  Abbey  still  continues  as  a 
most  attractive  ruin,  which  has  been  personally  vis- 
ited by  me  because  of  the  associations. 

Now  the  sacramental  cup,  used  for  the  wine  at  the 
last  supper,  and  mystically  at  least  receiving  the  pre- 
cious blood  from  the  pierced  side  of  the  Saviour  on 
the  cross,  came,  according  to  the  interesting  legend, 
into  the  possession  of  the  wealthy  Joseph,  who  with 
Nicodemus  had  given  the  crucified  one  tender  burial 
amid  sweet  spices  in  a  fragrant  garden.  He  bore 
the  holy  relic,  according  to  Tennyson's  "  Idylls  of  the 
King,"  to  the  English  Glastonbury,  and  there  it  was 
long  kept  by  the  Arimathean's  descendants.  The 
keepers  became  an  order  of  nobles,  knights  of  the 
round  table,  and  as  long  as  they  remained  chaste  in 
deed  and  word  and  thought,  they  were  to  be  allowed 
to  retain  what,  like  the  ark  of  God,  always  brought  a 
blessing  to  its  fortunate  possessors.  In  the  course  of 
time,  however,  one  of  the  highly  favoured  circle 
sinned,  violated  his  vow,  and  immediately,  as  the 
English  poet  has  written,  the  Grail  disappeared,  van- 
ished from  Glastonbury, 

'*  Where  the  winter  thorn 
Blossoms  at  Christmas,  mindful  of  our  Lord." 


2i6    The  Modem  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

There  followed  an  earnest  quest  of  it  by  different 
knights,  who  for  this  reason  left  King  Arthur  pretty- 
much  to  himself  in  his  castled  hall.  Why  was  Sir 
Galahad  successful  in  his  search  ?  Why  was  he 
alone  permitted  again  a  vision  of  the  chalice  with  its 
contents  blushing  rosy-red  ?  He  was  rewarded  with 
the  longed-for  sight,  since  he  could  say, 

"  My  strength  is  as  the  strength  of  ten, 
Because  my  heart  is  pure." 

The  Lord's  own  beatitude  is  still  true,  that  the  pure 
in  heart  shall  see  God,  shall  be  granted  a  vision  of  the 
Christ.  We  do  not  need  to  sweep  back  through  the 
centuries  in  order  to  find  Him ;  we  shall  discover 
Him  in  our  lives  if  these  are  Christlike. 

James  Russell  Lowell,  our  American  poet,  teaches 
us  this  same  lesson  in  his  interpretation  of  the  ro- 
mantic quest  of  the  Grail.  He  makes  one  Sir  Laun- 
fal  go  in  search  of  it,  in  flashing  armour  and  on  a 
i  spirited  charger  dashing  away  from  the  castle,  while 
he  tossed  a  gratuity  to  a  leper  at  the  gate.  After 
long  searching  in  every  country,  only  to  be  disap- 
pointed, he  came  back  after  many  years  a  broken  old 
man.  At  the  gate  of  his  former  estate,  which 
another  now  owned,  was  found  again  the  leper,  with 
whom  this  time  he  lovingly  shared  the  single  crust 
he  had,  while  he  broke  the  ice  in  an  adjacent  stream, 
and  with  a  wooden  bowl  filled  therefrom  he  quenched 
the  thirst  of  his  companion  in  distress,  in  whom  as 


The  Quest  of  the  Grail  2 17 

one  of  the  least  he  tried  to  see  his  Saviour,  and  then 
a  marvellous  transformation  took  place. 

"  The  leper  no  longer  crouched  at  his  side, 
But  stood  before  him  glorified, 
Shining  and  tall  and  fair  and  straight 
As  the  pillar  that  stood  by  the  Beautiful  Gate, — 
Himself  the  Gate  whereby  men  can 
Enter  the  temple  of  God  in  man." 

Such  was  "  the  vision  of  Sir  Launfal,"  who  ultimately 
found  the  Christ  in  the  one  he  had  first  passed  by  at 
his  own  door.     He  was  given  this  needful  lesson : 

"  In  many  climes,  without  avail, 

Thou  hast  spent  thy  life  for  the  Holy  Grail ; 
Behold,  it  is  here, — this  cup  which  thou 
Didst  fill  at  the  streamlet  for  me  but  now ; 
This  crust  is  my  body  broken  for  thee, 
This  water  His  blood  that  died  on  the  tree ; 
The  Holy  Supper  is  kept  indeed, 
In  whatso  we  share  with  another's  need." 

It  was  in  this  way,  and  "  at  the  Christmas  time,"  that 
the  knight  was  made  to  have  learned  that  Christ 
lived  not  only  centuries  ago,  but  lives  yet,  and  that 
He  may  be  served  in  those  we  help  in  His  name.  It 
may  be  some  trifling  thing  that  we  do,  a  considerate 
word  spoken,  a  self-forgetful  and  graceful  yielding  to 
another  on  a  minor  point,  a  pleasant  smile  given 
with  its  cheering  effect,  a  cordial  hand-greeting  ex- 
tended, a  small  gift  made  where  it  is  needed.  Any 
kindness   which   we   may  do,  a  cup  of  cold  water 


2i8    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

which  we  may  give, — anything  of  that  sort  is  the 
holy  cup  wherein  we  often  get  the  revelation  of  the 
Christ.  What  we  do  unto  the  least,  we  do  unto 
Him,  according  to  His  own  teaching,  and  we  thereby 
secure  the  blessing  we  covet.  Our  search  for  the 
Christ  no  less  than  the  quest  of  the  Grail  will  be 
successful  when  we  steadily  show  the  spirit  of  the 
Master. 

Not  only  again  did  the  wise  men  of  the  east  find 
the  Christ  at  Bethlehem,  but  we  all  agree  that  Van 
Dyke's  charming  "  Story  of  the  Other  Wise  Man  " 
is  essentially  true.  When  in  middle  life  he  converted 
all  his  vast  wealth  into  three  precious  stones  of 
enormous  value,  and  with  his  portable  riches  set  out 
in  search  of  the  new  King  heralded  by  the  star,  and 
when  on  his  journey  he  helped  the  sick  man  in  the 
desert  which  with  his  caravan  he  was  crossing,  saved 
the  babe  of  the  house  in  Bethlehem,  where  he  was 
being  temporarily  entertained,  from  the  historic 
slaughter  of  the  innocents,  and  redeemed  the  young 
girl  in  Jerusalem  from  the  slavery  with  which  she 
was  threatened,  he  was  really  finding  the  Christ  in 
these  ways,  though  he  knew  it  not  as  yet.  When  to 
do  all  this  he  parted  with  his  costly  jewels  one  by 
one,  and  when  as  an  old  man  he  sank  to  his  death  in 
the  streets  of  the  holy  city  from  the  falling  of  a  tile 
that  had  been  loosened  by  an  earthquake  shock  fol- 
lowing the  tragedy  of  Golgotha,  he  of  course  at  the 
end,  after  such  a  life  of  helpfulness  on  every  side, 


The  Quest  of  the  Grail  219 

heard  sweetest  music,  which,  coming  nearer,  became 
vocal  with  the  Lord's  own  words,  that  what  he  had 
done  to  others  he  had  done  to  the  King,  who  was 
rightly  revealed  to  him  in  a  ravishing,  dying  vision. 
He  found  the  object  of  his  quest  otherwise  than  did 
the  wise  men,  but  he  found  the  Christ  all  the  same. 

We  are  likewise  taught  this  lesson  by  the  legend 
of  St.  Christopher,  who  in  an  early  century  wanted 
to  serve  his  Lord,  but  who  found  himself  tied  to  a 
very  humble  task.  It  was  his  to  carry  pilgrims 
across  a  bridgeless  river.  Being  of  heroic  size,  in- 
deed a  giant  in  stature,  he  could  do  that  very  well, 
for  his  head  and  shoulders  were  well  above  the  water 
of  the  stream  which  he  forded.  He  probably  felt 
that  there  was  not  much  if  any  Christian  service  in 
such  lowly  employment.  But  one  day  he  lifted  a 
child  to  his  neck,  and  never  before  had  such  hard 
wading.  It  seemed  to  him  that  his  burden  would 
sink  him  into  the  swirling  waters,  but  he  struggled 
on  till  he  reached  the  farther  shore.  Thereupon  in 
amazement  he  looked  upon  the  small  bundle  of 
humanity  who  had  weighed  him  down,  and  who 
immediately  revealed  Himself  as  the  Christ  Child, 
warmly  commending  him  for  what  he  had  done  and 
was  doing,  and  naming  him,  from  two  Greek  words, 
Christopher  or  Christ-bearer.  If  we  will  give  another 
a  helpful  lift,  if  we  will  seek  to  carry  him  over  a 
difficult  place,  if  we  will  assist  a  young  person  at  his 
studies,  if  we  will  do  any  such  loving  service,  there 


220    The  Modern  Man  Facing  Old  Problems 

will  come  to  us  a  disclosure  of  the  Lord,  and  we  will 
find  ourselves  bearing  the  image  of  the  Christ,  and 
the  Christian  hfe  will  become  a  glad  and  thrilling 
reality,  and  our  doubts  will  vanish. 

As  Christopher  found  the  Christ  in  the  child  he 
carried  over  the  river,  as  "  the  other  wise  man " 
finally  learned  that  he  had  seen  him  in  each  of  the 
cases  he  helped,  as  Sir  Launfal  at  last  saw  the  same 
Lord  in  the  needy  person  by  his  own  gate,  we  should 
see  the  Christ  in  those  with  whom  we  daily  come 
in  contact,  as  we  seek  to  do  them  little  kindnesses 
for  His  sake.  If  we  invariably  would  act  towards 
others  as  we  would  to  Him  were  He  on  earth,  the 
vision  of  the  Holy  Grail  would  always  be  ours,  the 
whole  year  round  would  be  a  blessed  Christmas  or  a 
glad  Easter,  those  anniversaries  on  which,  with  the 
sway  of  tender  thoughts  and  feelings  and  acts,  the 
Lord  is  particularly  revealed  to  longing  hearts. 

In  such  ways,  along  the  Hnes  both  of  the  his- 
torical and  of  the  experiential,  can  our  quest  have  a 
most  happy  end,  while  ours  can  be  the  triumphant 
expression  of  the  first  disciples,  who  said,  "  We  have 
found  him,  of  whom  Moses  in  the  law,  and  the 
prophets,  wrote,  Jesus  of  Nazareth."  At  least  we 
will  feel  that  here  is  the  ideal  manhood  after  which 
to  strive,  a  most  unique  combination  indeed  of  the 
human  and  the  divine,  and  with  the  doubting  Thomas 
each  of  us  in  a  burst  of  conviction  will  say,  "  My 
Lord  and  my  God."     Richard  Watson  Gilder  was 


The  Quest  of  the  Grail  221 

only  reechoing  this  when  with  a  forceful  ruggedness 
he  wrote : 

*'  If  Jesus  Christ  is  a  man, — 
And  only  a  man, — I  say 
That  of  all  mankind  I  cleave  to  Him, 
And  to  Him  will  I  cleave  alway. 

"  If  Jesus  Christ  is  a  God, — 
And  the  only  God, — I  swear 
I  will  follow  Him  through  heaven  and  hell, 
The  earth,  the  sea,  and  the  air  !" 


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